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THE 

IS^TASTER  OF 

WARLOCK 


A    VIRGINIA    WAR     STORY 


BY 

GEORGE    GARY 

EGGLESTON 

AUTHOR    OF 

"DOROTHY  SOUTH," 
"A  CAROLINA  CAVALIER," 
ETC. 

ILLUSTRATED  BY 
C.    D.     WILLIAMS 


LOTHROP     PUBLISHING 
COMPANY  BOSTON 


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COPYRIGHT, 

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1903, 
«N-    B  Y 

L  O  T  H  R  O  P 
PUBLISHING 
COM  P  A  N  Y. 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


ENTERED    AT 

STATIONERS' 

HALL 


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Published,  January,  1903 


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<^^O  "DOROTHY  SOUTH,"  THE 
\$)  DEAR  LITTLE  WOMAN  WHO 
HAS  BEEN  WIFE  TO  ME  FOR 
THIRTY-FOUR  YEARS,  WHO  HAS 
UNCONSCIOUSLY  INSPIRED  ALL  MY 
WORK,  AND  WHOSE  PERSONALITY, 
IN  ITS  SEVERAL  PHASES,  IT  HAS 
BEEN,  MY  LOVING  ENDEAVOUR  TO 
PORTRAY  IN  ALL  THE  STORIES  I 
HAVE  WRITTEN,  I  DEDICATE 
THIS  BOOK  WITH  REVERENCE 
AND  SOUL -FELT  THANKS. 

GEORGE  GARY  EGGLESTON. 
Culross,  October  18,  7902. 


M* 
M* 

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2128834 


Table    of    Contents 
^ttffttfftfttttttttttttttttttfftttf^ 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  A  BREAK  IN  THE  BRIDGE.        .        .        .n 

II.  THE  BRINGING  UP  OF  AGATHA         .        .    32 

III.  JESSAMINE  AND  HONEYSUCKLE  .        .        .47 

IV.  IN  REVOLT .71 

V.  AT  THE  OAKS 78 

VI.  NEXT  MORNING 94 

VII.  A  FAREWELL  AT  THE  GATE      .        .        .  in 

VIII.  A  RED  FEATHER         .        .        .     -    .        .118 

IX.  THE  BIRTH  OF  WOMANHOOD     .        .        .135 

X.  IN  ACTION 144 

XI.  AT  WARLOCK 163 

XII.  UNDER  ESCORT 172 

XIII.  A  SOUVENIR  SERVICE         .        .        .        .187 

XIV.  QUICK  WORK 199 

XV.  AGATHA'S  VENTURE 214 

XVI.  CANISTER 223 

XVII.  AT  HEADQUARTERS 238 

XVIII.  A  BRUSH  AT  THE  FRONT  ....  248 

XIX.  AGATHA'S  RESOLUTION        ....  256 

XX.  TWO    HOME-COMINGS    .            .  .    .            .    265 

XXI.  AT  PARTING 279 

XXII.  SAM  AS  A  STRATEGIST       ....  290 

XXIII.  A  NEGOTIATION.        .     ._.        .        .        .  301 

XXIV.  FLIGHT  .  v? 


Table    of   Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXV.  A  NARROW  ESCAPE         .        .        .        .327 

XXVI.  MADEMOISELLE  ROLAND          .        .        .  336 

XXVII.  AGATHA'S  WONDER- STORY      .        .        .  345 

XXVIII.  WHEN  A  MAN  TALKS  Too  MUCH          .  364 

XXIX.  A  STRUGGLE  OF  GIANTS  .  .        .  374 

XXX.  THE  LAST  STRAW    .        .        .        .  '      .  380 

XXXI.  AT  WARLOCK  AND  AT  THE  OAKS          .  396 

XXXII.  IN  RIGHTEOUS  WRATH    ....  407 

XXXIII.  UNDER  RED  LEAVES       ....  416 

XXXIV.  THE  END  AND  AFTER     .       ..       f        .  425 


List  of  Illustrations 

"In  the  firelight"  .         .         .        Frontispiece 

Page 

Agatha  Ronald 44 

"  '  If  any  manflimks  — /'//  brain  him ' '  .  126 
"  'Riding  under  gallant  escort '  "  .  ' .  .  1 86 
"  '  I  love  you,  Agatha  Ronald '  "  .  .  .-235 
"  l  At  Christ-chtirch-in-the-woods  ' '  .  .  423 


The  Master  of  Warlock 


A    BREAK  IN  THE  BRIDGE 

THE  road  was  a  winding,  twisting  track 
as  it  threaded  its  way  through  a  stretch  of 
old  field  pines.    The  land  was  nearly  level 
at  that  point,  and  quite  unobstructed,  so  that  there 
was  not  the  slightest  reason  that  ordinary  intelli- 
gence could  discover  for  the  roadway's  devious 
wanderings.      It  might  just   as   well   have   run 
straight  through  the  pine  lands. 

But  in  Virginia  people  were  never  in  a  hurry. 
They  had  all  of  leisure  that  well-settled  and  per- 
fectly self-satisfied  ways  of  life  could  bring  to  a 
people  whose  chief  concern  it  was  to  live  uprightly 
and  happily  in  that  state  of  existence  into  which 
it  had  pleased  God  to  call  them.  What  difference 
could  it  make  to  a  people  so  minded,  whether  the 

II 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

journey  to  the  Court-house  —  the  centre  and  seat 
of  county  activities  of  all  kinds  —  were  a  mile 
or  two  longer  or  shorter  by  reason  of  meaningless 
curves  in  the  road,  or  by  reason  of  a  lack  of  them  ? 
Why  should  they  bother  to  straighten  out  road 
windings  that  had  the  authority  of  long  use  for 
their  being  ?  And  why  should  the  well-fed  negro 
drivers  of  family  carriages  shake  themselves  out 
of  their  customary  and  comfortable  naps  in  order 
to  drive  more  directly  across  the  pine  land,  when 
the  horses,  if  left  to  themselves,  would  placidly 
follow  the  traditional  track? 

The  crookedness  of  the  road  was  a  fact,  and 
Virginians  of  that  time  always  accepted  and  re- 
spected facts  to  which  they  had  been  long  accus- 
tomed. For  that  sufficient  reason  Baillie  Pegram, 
the  young  master  of  Warlock,  was  not  thinking 
of  the  road  at  all,  but  accepting  it  as  he  did  the 
greenery  of  the  trees  and  the  bursting  of  the 
buds,  as  h'e  jogged  along  at  a  dog-trot  on  that 
fine  April  morning  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1861. 

He  was  well  mounted  upon  a  mettlesome  sorrel 

mare,  —  a  mare  with  pronounced  ideas  of  her 

own.     The  young  man  had  taught  her  to  bend 

these  somewhat  to  his  will,  but  her  individuality 

12 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

was  not  yet  so  far  subdued  or  suppressed  as  to 
lose  itself  in  that  of  her  master.  So  she  suddenly 
halted  and  vigorously  snorted  as  she  came  within 
sight  of  the  little  bridge  over  Dogwood  Branch, 
where  a  horse  and  a  young  gentlewoman  were 
obviously  in  trouble. 

I  name  the  horse  and  the  girl  in  that  ungallant 
reverse  order,  because  that  was  the  order  in  which 
they  revealed  themselves  to  the  mare  and  her 
master.  For  the  girl  was  on  the  farther  side  of 
the  horse,  and  stooping,  so  that  she  could  not 
be  seen  at  a  first  glance.  As  she  heard  approach- 
ing hoof-beats  she  straightened  herself  into  that 
dignity  of  demeanour  which  every  young  Vir- 
ginia gentlewoman  felt  it  to  be  her  supreme  duty 
in  life  to  maintain  under  any  and  all  circum- 
stances. 

She  was  gowned  in  the  riding-habit  of  that 
time,  with  glove-fitting  body  and  a  skirt  so  long 
that,  even  when  its  wearer  sat  upon  a  high  horse, 
it  extended  to  within  eighteen  inches  of  the 
ground.  When  Baillie  Pegram  reached  the  little 
bridge  and  hastily  dismounted,  she  was  standing 
as  erect  as  a  young  hickory-tree,  making  the  most 
of  her  five  feet  four  of  height,  and  holding  the 

13 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

skirt  up  sufficiently  to  free  her  feet.  She  wore  a 
look  half  of  welcome,  half  of  defiance  on  her  face. 
The  defiance  was  prompted  by  a  high-bred  maid- 
enly sense  of  propriety  and  by  something  else. 
The  welcome  was  due  to  an  instinctive  rejoicing 
in  the  coming  of  masculine  help.  For  the  girl  was 
indeed  in  sore  need  of  assistance.  Her  horse  had 
slipped  his  foot  through  a  break  in  the  bridge 
flooring,  and  after  a  painful  struggle,  had  given 
up  the  attempt  to  extricate  it.  He  was  panting 
with  pain,  and  his  young  mistress  was  sympa- 
thetically sharing  every  pain  that  he  suffered. 

Baillie  Pegram  gave  the  girl  a  rather  formal 
greeting  as  he  dismounted.  Stooping  he  exam- 
ined the  imprisoned  leg  of  the  animal.  Then 
seizing  a  stone  from  the  margin  of  the  stream, 
he  quickly  beat  the  planking  loose  from  its 
fastenings,  releasing  the  poor  brute  from  its 
pillory.  But  the  freed  foot  did  not  plant  itself 
upon  the  ground  again.  The  horse  held  it  up, 
limp  and  dangling.  Seeing  what  had  happened, 
the  young  man  promptly  ungirthed  the  saddles, 
and  transferred  that  of  the  young  woman  to  the 
back  of  his  own  animal. 

"  You  must  take  my  mare,  Miss  Ronald,"  he 

14 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

said.  "  Your  horse  is  in  no  condition  to  carry 
you,  and,  poor  fellow,  he  never  will  be  again." 

"  Just  what  has  happened,  Mr.  Pegram  ?  "  the 
girl  asked,  with  a  good  deal  of  hauteur  in  her 
tone. 

"  Your  horse's  leg  is  broken  beyond  all  possi- 
bility of  repair,"  he  answered.  "  I  will  take  care 
of  him  for  you,  and  you  must  ride  my  mare. 
She  is  a  trifle  unruly  at  times,  and  not  very 
bridle-wise,  so  that  she  is  scarcely  fit  for  a  lady's 
use.  But  I  take  it  you  know  how  to  ride." 

The  girl  did  not  answer  at  once.  After  a 
space  she  said: 

"  You  forget  that  I  am  Agatha  Ronald." 

"  No,  I  do  not  forget,"  he  answered.  "  I 
remember  that  fact  with  regret  whenever  I  think 
of  you.  However,  under  the  circumstances,  you 
must  so  far  overcome  your  prejudice  as  to  accept 
the  use  of  my  mare." 

There  was  a  mingling  of  hauteur  and  amuse- 
ment in  the  girl's  voice  and  countenance  as  she 
answered : 

"  Permit  me,  Mr.  Pegram,  to  thank  you  for 
your  courteous  proffer  of  help,  and  to  decline  it" 

"  I  need  no  thanks,"  he  said,  "  for  a  trifling 

15 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

courtesy  which  is  so  obviously  imperative.  As 
for  declining  it,  why  of  course  you  cannot  do 
that." 

"  Why  not?  "  she  asked,  resentfully.  "  Am  I 
not  my  own  mistress?  Surely  you  would  not 
take  advantage  of  my  mishap  to  force  unwelcome 
attentions  upon  me?" 

The  utterance  was  an  affront,  and  Baillie 
Pegram  saw  clearly  that  it  was  intended  to  be 
such.  He  bit  his  lip,  but  controlled  himself. 

"  I  will  not  think,"  he  answered,  "  that  you 
quite  meant  to  say  that.  You  are  too  just  to  do 
even  me  a  wrong,  and  surely  I  have  not  deserved 
such  an  affront  at  your  hands.  Nor  can  the 
circumstances  that  prompt  you  to  decline  any 
unnecessary  courtesy  at  my  hands  justify  you  in 
— well,  in  saying  what  you  have  just  said.  I  have 
not  sought  to  force  attentions  upon  you,  and  you 
know  it.  I  have  only  asked  you  to  let  me  behave 
like  a  gentleman  under  circumstances  which  are 
not  of  my  making  or  my  seeking.  Your  horse 
is  hopelessly  lamed  —  so  hopelessly  that  as  soon 
as  you  are  gone,  I  am  going  to  kill  him  by  the 
roadside  as  an  act  of  ordinary  humanity.  You 
are  fully  five  miles  from  The  Oaks,  where  you 

16 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

are  staying  with  your  aunts.  Except  in  this  bit 
of  pine  barren,  the  roads  are  exceedingly  muddy. 
You  are  habited  for  riding,  and  you  could  not 
walk  far  in  that  costume,  even  upon  the  best  of 
roads.  You  simply  must  make  use  of  my  mare. 
I  cannot  permit  you  to  refuse.  If  I  did  so,  I 
should  incur  the  lasting  and  just  disapproval  of 
your  aunts,  The  Oaks  ladies.  You  certainly  do 
not  wish  me  to  do  that.  I  have  placed  your  saddle 
upon  my  mare,  and  I  am  waiting  to  help  you 
mount." 

The  girl  hesitated,  bewildered,  unwilling,  and 
distinctly  in  that  feminine  state  of  mind  which 
women  call  "  vexed."  At  last  she  asked : 
"What  will  you  do  if  I  refuse?" 
"  O,  in  that  case  I  shall  turn  the  mare  loose, 
and  walk  at  a  respectful  distance  behind  you 
as  you  trudge  over  the  miry  road,  until  you 
become  hopelessly  involved  in  the  red  clay  at 
Vinegar  Post.  Then  I  shall  rush  to  your  rescue 
like  a  gallant  knight,  and  carry  you  pick-a-back 
all  the  way  to  The  Oaks.  It  will  be  a  singularly 
undignified  approach  to  a  mansion  in  which  the 
proprieties  of  life  are  sternly  insisted  upon.  Don't 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

you  think  you'd  better  take  the  mare,  Miss  Ron- 
ald?" 

The  girl  stood  silent  for  nearly  a  minute  in  a 
half-angry  mood  of  resistance,  which  was  in 
battle  with  the  laughing  demon  that  just  now 
possessed  her.  She  did  not  want  to  laugh.  She 
was  determined  not  to  laugh.  Therefore  she 
laughed  uncontrollably,  as  one  is  apt  to  do  when 
something  ludicrous  occurs  at  a  funeral.  Pres- 
ently she  said : 

"  I  wonder  what  it  was  all  about  anyhow  — 
the  quarrel,  I  mean,  between  your  grandfather 
and  my  poor  father  ?  " 

There  was  a  touch  of  melancholy  in  her  tone 
as  she  spoke  of  her  "  poor  father  "  —  for  that 
phrase,  in  Virginian  usage,  always  meant  that  the 
dear  one  mentioned  was  dead.  "  I  wonder  what 
it  was  that  makes  it  so  imperative  for  me  to  be 
formally  courteous  beyond  the  common  to  you, 
and  at  the  same  time  highly  improper  for  me  to 
accept  such  ordinary  courtesies  at  your  hands  as 
I  freely  accept  from  others,  thinking  nothing 
about  the  matter." 

"  Would  you  really  like  to  know  ?  "  the  young 
man  asked. 

18 


The     Master    of    Warlock 


Yes  —  no.  I'm  not  quite  certain.  Some- 
times I  want  to  know  —  just  now,  for  example  — 
so  that  I  may  know  just  what  my  duty  is.  But 
at  other  times  I  think  it  should  be  enough  for  me, 
as  a  well-ordered  young  person,  to  know  that 
I  must  be  loyal  to  my  poor  father's  memory,  and 
never  forgive  a  Pegram  while  I  live.  My  good 
aunts  have  taught  me  that  much,  but  they  have 
never  told  me  anything  about  the  origin  of  the 
feud.  All  I  know  is  that,  in  order  to  be  true  to 
the  memory  of  my  poor  father,  who  died  before  I 
was  born,  I  must  always  remember  that  the 
Ronalds  and  the  Pegrams  are  hereditary  enemies. 
That  is  why  I  refuse  to  use  the  mare  which  you 
have  so  courteously  offered  me,  Mr.  Pegram." 

"  Still,"  answered  the  young  man,  as  if  arguing 
the  matter  out  with  himself,  "  it  might  not  com- 
promise your  dignity  so  much  to  ride  a  mare 
that  belongs  to  me,  as  to  let  me  '  tote  '  you  home 
—  for  that  is  precisely  what  I  must  do  if  you 
persist  in  your  refusal." 

The  girl  again  laughed,  merrily  this  time,  but 
still  she  hesitated  : 

"Listen!"  said  Baillie;   "that's  my  boy  Sam 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

coming.  It  would  be  unseemly  for  us  to  con- 
tinue our  quarrel  in  the  presence  of  a  servant." 
As  he  spoke  the  voice  of  Sam  rose  from  beyond 
the  pines,  in  a  ditty  which  he  was  singing  with 
all  the  power  of  a  robust  set  of  vocal  organs : 

"  My  own  Eliza  gal  —  she's  de  colour  ob  de  night, 

When  de  moon  it  doesn't  shine  a  little  bit; 
But  her  teeth  shows  white  in  de  shaddah  ob  de  night, 
And  her  eyes  is  like  a  lantern  when  it's  lit 

"Oh,  Eliza! 

How  I  prize  yeh! 
You'se  de  nicest  gal  dere  is; 
It's  fer  you  dat  Fse  a-pinin', 
For  you're  like  a  star  dat's  shinin' 
When  de  moon  it's  done  forgitten  how  to  riz." 

With  that  Sam  came  beaming  upon  the  scene. 
His  round,  black,  shining  visage,  and  eyes  that 
glittered  with  a  humour  which  might  have  won 
an  anchorite  to  merriment,  resembled  nothing  so 
much  as  the  sun  at  its  rising,  if  one  may  think 
of  the  sun  as  black  and  glistening  from  a  diligent 
rubbing  with  a  bacon  rind,  which  was  Sam's 
favourite  cosmetic,  as  it  is  of  all  the  very  black 
negroes. 

Sam  was  sitting  sidewise  upon  a  saddleless 
mule,  but  when  he  saw  the  situation  he  quickly 
20 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

slipped  to  the  ground,  pulled  his  woolly  forelock 
in  lieu  of  doffing  the  hat  which  he  had  not,  and 
asked : 

"  What's  de  mattah,  Mas'  Baillie?  " 

The  girl  saw  the  impropriety  of  continuing  the 
discussion  —  it  had  ceased  to  be  a  quarrel  now  — 
in  Sam's  presence.  So  she  held  out  her  hand, 
and  said: 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  Mr.  Pegram.  I  will 
ride  your  beautiful  mare,  and  to-morrow,  if  you 
are  so  minded,  you  may  call  at  The  Oaks  to 
inquire  how  the  animal  has  behaved  toward  me. 
Good  morning,  sir !  " 

She  sprang  into  the  saddle  without  waiting 
for  young  Pegram  to  assist  her,  for  she  was  even 
yet  determined  to  accept  no  more  of  attention 
at  his  hands  than  she  must.  He~  in  his  turn,  was 
too  greatly  relieved  by  this  ending  of  the  embar- 
rassing scene  to  care  for  the  implied  snub  to  his 
gallantry.  As  soon  as  the  girl  rode  away,  which 
she  did  without  pausing  for  a  moment,  Baillie 
Pegram  turned  to  Sam,  and  without  inquiring 
upon  what  errand  that  worthy  had  been  going, 
gave  the  order: 

"  Mount  your  mule  and  ride  at  a  respectful 

21 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

distance  behind  Miss  Agatha  Ronald.  She  may 
have  trouble  with  that  half-broken  mare  of  mine. 
And  mind  you,  boy,  don't  entertain  the  young 
lady  with  any  of  your  songs  as  you  go.  When 
you  get  back  to  Warlock,  bring  me  a  horse  to 
the  Court-house,  do  you  hear?" 

Then  leading  the  wounded  animal  upon  three 
legs  into  the  woods  near  by,  Pegram  fired  a 
charge  of  shot  from  the  fowling-piece  which  he 
carried,  into  its  brain,  killing  the  poor  beast 
instantly  and  painlessly. 

Having  discharged  this  duty  of  mercy,  the 
young  man,  with  high  boots  drawn  over  his 
trousers'  legs,  set  out  with  a  brisk  stride  for  the 
county-seat  village,  known  only  as  "  the  Court- 
house." Entering  the  clerk's  office,  he  said  to 
the  county  clerk : 

"  As  a  magistrate  of  this  county  I  direct  you 
to  enter  a  fine  of  five  dollars  against  Baillie 
Pegram,  Esq.,  supervisor  of  the  Vinegar  Post 
road,  for  his  neglect  to  keep  the  bridge  over 
Dogwood  Branch  in  repair.  Here's  the  money. 
Give  me  a  receipt,  please,  and  make  the  proper 
entries  upon  the  court  records." 

"  Pardon  me,  Mr.  Pegram,"  answered  the 
22 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

clerk,  "  but  you  remember  that  at  the  last  term 
of  the  county  court,  with  a  full  bench  of  magis- 
trates sitting,  it  was  decided  to  adjourn  the  court 
indefinitely  in  view  of  the  disturbed  condition  of 
the  time  ?  " 

"  I  remember  that,"  answered  the  young  man, 
"  but  that  action  was  taken  only  upon  the  ground 
that  under  present  circumstances  it  would  work 
hardship  to  many  for  the  courts  to  meet  for  the 
enforcement  of  debts.  This  is  a  very  different 
case.  As  road  supervisor  I  am  charged  with  a 
public  duty  which  I  have  neglected.  As  a  magis- 
trate it  is  my  duty  to  fine  every  road  supervisor 
who  is  derelict.  No  session  of  the  court  is  neces- 
sary for  that.  I  shall  certainly  not  tolerate  such 
neglect  of  duty  on  the  part  of  any  county  officer, 
particularly  when  I  happen  to  be  myself  the  dere- 
lict official.  So  enter  the  fine  and  give  me  a 
receipt  for  the  money." 

Does  all  this  impress  the  reader  as  quixotic? 
Was  it  a  foolish  sentimentalism  that  prompted 
these  men  to  serve  their  neighbours  and  the  public 
without  pay,  and,  upon  occasion,  to  hold  them- 
selves rigidly  responsible  to  a  high  standard 
of  duty  ?  Was  it  quixotism  which  prompted 

23 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

George  Washington  to  serve  his  country  without 
one  dollar  of  pay,  through  seven  years  of  war,  as 
the  general  of  its  armies,  and  through  nearly  twice 
that  time  as  President,  first  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  and  afterwards,  for  eight  years, 
as  President  of  the  nation?  Was  it  an  absurd 
sentimentalism  that  prompted  him,  after  he  had  de- 
clined pay,  to  decline  also  the  gifts  voluntarily  and 
urgently  pressed  upon  him  by  his  own  and  other 
States,  and  by  the  nation?  The  humourists  ridi- 
cule all  such  sentiment.  But  the  humourists  are 
not  a  court  of  final  appeal.  At  any  rate,  this 
sentimentality  had  its  good  side. 

But  at  this  time  of  extreme  excitement,  there 
were,  no  doubt,  ludicrous  exaggerations  of  senti- 
ment and  conduct  now  and  then,  and  on  this  six- 
teenth day  of  April,  1861,  the  master  of  Warlock 
encountered  some  things  that  greatly  amused  him. 
Having  finished  his  business  in  the  clerk's  office, 
he  found  himself  in  the  midst  of  excited  throngs. 
Startling  news  had  come  from  Richmond  that 
morning.  In  view  of  the  bomba'rdment  of  Fort 
Sumter,  President  Lincoln  had  called  for  seventy- 
five  thousand  men  as  an  army  with  which  to 
reduce  the  seceding  States  to  subjection. 
24 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Virginia  was  not  one  of  the  seceding  States. 
Up  to  that  time,  she  had  utterly  repudiated  the 
thought  that  secession  was  justified  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's election,  or  by  any  threat  to  the  South  which 
his  accession  to  office  implied. 

The  statesmen  of  Virginia  had  busied  them- 
selves for  months  with  efforts  to  find  a  way  out 
of  the  difficulties  that  beset  the  country.  They 
were  intent  upon  saving  that  Union  which  had 
been  born  of  Virginia's  suggestion,  if  such  saving 
could  be  accomplished  by  any  means  that  did  not 
involve  dishonour.  The  people  of  Virginia,  when 
called  upon  to  decide  the  question  of  their  own 
course  in  such  a  crisis  by  the  election  of  a  con- 
stitutional convention,  had  overwhelmingly  de- 
cided it  against  secession,  and  in  favour  of  ad- 
herence to  the  Union.  Under  Virginia's  influ- 
ence, Maryland,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Ken- 
tucky, Arkansas,  and  Missouri  had  refused  to 
secede. 

But  while  the  Virginians  were  thus  opposed  to 
secession,  and  while  they  were  fully  convinced  that 
secession  was  neither  necessary  nor  advisable  un- 
der the  circumstances  then  existing,  they  were  of 
one  mind  in  believing  that  the  constitutional  right 

25 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

of  any  State  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  at  will 
was  absolute  and  indefeasible.  So  when  Mr. 
Lincoln  called  upon  Virginia  for  her  quota  of 
troops  with  which  to  coerce  back  into  the  Union 
those  States  which  had  exercised  what  the  Vir- 
ginians held  to  be  their  rightful  privilege  of  with- 
drawal, it  seemed  to  the  Virginians  that  there  was 
forced  upon  them  a  choice  between  secession  and 
unspeakable  dishonour.  They  wanted  to  remain  in 
the  Union,  of  which  their  State  had  been  from  the 
beginning  so  influential  a  part.  They  were  in- 
tensely loyal  to  the  history  and  traditions  of  that 
Union  over  which  their  Washington,  Jefferson, 
Madison,  Monroe,  and  Tyler  had  presided,  and  at 
the  head  of  whose  supreme  court  their  John  Mar- 
shall had  so  wisely  interpreted  the  constitution. 
But  when  Mr.  Lincoln  notified  them  that  they 
must  furnish  their  quota  of  troops  with  which  to 
make  war  upon  sister  States  for  exercising  a  right 
which  the  Virginians  deemed  unquestionable,  they 
felt  that  they  had  no  choice  but  to  join  the  seced- 
ing States  and  take  the  consequences. 

What  a  pity  it  seems,  as  we  look  back  upon 
that  crisis  of  forty  odd  years  ago,  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln could  not  have  found  some  other  way  out 
26 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

of  his  difficulties !  What  a  pity  that  he  could  not 
have  seen  his  way  clear  to  omit  Virginia  and 
the  other  border  States  from  his  call  for  troops, 
with  which  to  make  war  upon  secession !  Doubt- 
less it  was  impracticable  for  him  to  make  such  a 
distinction.  But  the  pity  of  it  is  none  the  less  on 
that  account.  For  if  this  might  have  been  done, 
there  would  have  been  no  civil  war  worthy  the 
attention  of  the  historian  or  the  novelist.  In  that 
case  the  battles  of  Bull  Run,  the  Seven  Days, 
Fredericksburg,  Antietam,  Chancellorsville,  Get- 
tysburg, the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Cold 
Harbour,  and  the  rest  of  the  bloody  encounters 
would  never  have  been  fought.  In  that  case  the 
country  would  not  have  exhausted  itself  with  four 
years  of  strenuous  war,  enlisting  2,700,000  men 
on  one  side,  and  600,000  on  the  other.  In  that  case 
many  thousands  of  brave  young  lives  would  have 
been  spared,  and  the  desolation  of  homes  by  tens 
of  thousands  would  not  have  come  upon  the  land. 
It  is  idle,  however,  to  speculate  in  "  if's,"  even 
when  their  significance  is  so  sadly  obvious  as 
it  is  in  this  case.  Facts  are  facts,  and  the  all- 
dominating  fact  on  that  i6th  of  April,  1861, 
was  that  President  Lincoln  had  called  upon  Vir- 

27 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

ginia  for  her  quota  of  troops  with  which  to  make 
war  upon  the  seceding  States,  and  that  Virginia 
had  no  mind  to  respond  to  the  call. 

It  was  certain  now,  that  Virginia  —  however 
reluctantly  and  however  firmly  convinced  she 
might  be  that  secession  was  uncalled  for  on  the 
part  of  the  Southern  States,  would  adopt  an  or- 
dinance of  secession,  and  thus  make  inevitable 
the  coming  of  the  greatest  war  in  all  history, 
where  otherwise  no  war  at  all,  or  at  most  an 
insignificant  one,  would  have  occurred. 

There  was  no  question  in  the  minds  of  any 
body  at  the  Court-house  on  this  sixteenth  day  of 
April,  1 86 1,  that  Virginia  would  secede  as  soon 
as  a  vote  could  be  taken  in  the  convention. 

The  county  was  a  small  one,  insignificant  in 
the  number  of  its  white  inhabitants,  —  there  being 
six  negroes  to  one  white  in  its  population,  —  but 
it  was  firmly  convinced  that  upon  its  attitude 
depended  the  fate  of  Virginia,  and  perhaps  of 
the  nation.  This  conviction  was  strong,  at  any 
rate,  in  the  minds  of  the  three  local  orators  who 
had  ordered  a  muster  for  this  day  in  order  that 
they  might  have  an  audience  to  harangue.  These 
were  Colonel  Gregor,  of  the  militia  and  the  bar, 
28 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Simpson,  also  of  the  bar  and 
the  militia,  and  Captain  Sam  Guthrie,  who  com- 
manded a  troop  of  uniformed  horsemen,  long  ago 
organised  for  purposes  of  periodical  picnicking. 
This  troop  afterward  rendered  conspicuously 
good  service  in  Stuart's  First  Regiment  of  Vir- 
ginia cavalry,  but  not  under  Captain  Guthrie's 
command.  That  officer,  early  in  the  campaign, 
developed  a  severe  case  of  nervous  prostration, 
and  retired.  The  militiamen  also  volunteered, 
and  rendered  their  full  four  years  of  service. 
But  Lieutenant-Colonel  Simpson  retired  during 
his  first  and  only  skirmish,  while  Colonel  Gregor 
discovered  in  himself  a  divine  call  to  the  ministry 
of  the  gospel,  and  stayed  at  home  to  answer  it. 
But  all  this  came  later.  In  April,  1861,  these  three 
were  the  eager  advocates  of  war,  instant  and  ter- 
rible. Under  inspiration  of  the  news  from  Rich- 
mond, they  spouted  like  geysers  throughout  that 
day.  They  could  not  have  been  more  impassioned 
in  their  pleas  if  theirs  had  been  a  reluctant  com- 
munity, in  danger  of  disgracing  itself  by  refusing 
to  furnish  its  fair  share  of  volunteers  for  Vir- 
ginia's defence,  though  in  fact  every  able-bodied 


29 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

man  in  the  county  had  already  signified  his  in- 
tention of  volunteering  at  the  first  opportunity. 

But  the  orators  were  not  minded  to  miss  so 
good  an  opportunity  to  display  their  eloquence, 
and  impress  themselves  upon  the  community. 
Colonel  Gregor,  in  a  fine  burst  of  eloquence, 
warned  his  fellow  citizens,  whom  he  always  ad- 
dressed as  "  me  countrymen,"  to  examine  them- 
selves carefully  touching  their  personal  courage, 
"  for,"  he  thundered,  "  where  Gregor  leads,  brave 
men  must  follow." 

Later  in  the  day,  lieutenant-Colonel  Simpson 
hit  upon  the  happy  idea,  which  his  superior  officer 
at  once  adopted,  of  ordering  the  entire  militia 
of  the  county  into  camp  at  the  Court-house,  where 
the  three  men  eloquent  might  harangue  them  at 
will  between  drills.  The  two  field-officers  told 
the  men  that  they  must  now  regard  themselves 
as  minute  men,  and  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
to  respond  at  a  moment's  notice  to  the  country's 
call,  for  the  repelling  of  invasion,  whensoever  it 
might  come. 

All  this  impressed  Baillie  Pegram  as  ridiculous. 
That  young  gentleman  had  a  saving  sense  of 
humour,  but  he  was  content  to  smile  at  a  foolish- 

30 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

ness  in  which  he  had  no  mind  to  join.  The  young 
men  of  the  county  responded  enthusiastically  to 
the  encampment  call.  It  meant  for  them  some 
days  of  delightful  picnicking,  with  dancing  in 
the  evening. 

Baillie  Pegram,  having  business  to  transact  in 
Richmond,  absented  himself  from  a  frolic  not 
to  his  taste,  and  took  the  noonday  train  for  the 
State  capital. 


II 

THE   BRINGING    UP  OF  AGATHA 

AGATHA  ROLAND  was  a  particularly 
well  ordered  young  gentlewoman,  at  least 
during  her  long,  half-yearly  visits  to  her 
aunts  at  The  Oaks.  At  home  with  her  maternal 
grandfather,  Colonel  Archer,  she  was  neither  well 
nor  ill  ordered  —  she  was  not  ordered  at  all. 
She  gave  orders  instead,  in  a  gentle  way ;  and  her 
word  was  lav/,  by  virtue  of  her  grandfather's 
insistence  that  it  should  be  so  regarded,  and  still 
more  by  reason  of  something  in  herself  that  gently 
gave  authority  to  her  will. 

Agatha  had  been  born  at  The  Oaks,  and  that 
plantation  was  to  be  her  property  at  the  death 
of  her  two  elderly  maiden  aunts,  her  dead  father's 
sisters.  But  she  had  been  taken  as  a  little  child 
to  the  distant  home  of  her  grandfather,  Colonel 
Archer,  and  after  her  mother's  death  she  had 

32 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

lived  there  alone  with  that  sturdy  old  Virginia 
gentleman. 

She  was  less  than  seven  years  old  when  he 
installed  her  behind  the  tea-tray  in  her  dead 
mother's  stead,  and  made  her  absolute  mistress 
of  the  mansion,  issuing  the  order  that  "  whatever 
Miss  Agatha  wants  done  must  be  done,  or  I  will 
find  out  why."  Her  good  aunts  sought  to  inter- 
fere at  first,  but  they  soon  learned  better.  They 
wanted  the  girl  to  come  to  them  at  The  Oaks  "  for 
her  bringing  up,"  they  said.  Upon  that  plan 
Colonel  Archer  instantly  put  a  veto  that  was  not 
the  less  peremptory  for  the  reason  that  he  could 
not  "  put  his  foot  down  "  just  then,  because  of 
an  attack  of  the  gout.  Then  the  good  ladies 
urged  him  to  take  "  some  gentlewoman  of  mature 
years  and  high  character "  into  his  house,  "  to 
look  after  the  child's  bringing  up,  so  that  her 
manners  may  be  such  as  befit  a  person  of  her 
lineage." 

To  this  appeal  the  old  gentleman  replied : 

"  I'll  look  after  all  that  myself.     I  don't  want 

the  child  taught  a  lot  of  nonsense,  and  I  won't 

have  her  placed  under  anybody's  authority.     She 

doesn't  need  control,  any  more  than  the  birds  do; 

33 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

she  shall  grow  up  here  at  Willoughby  in  perfect 
freedom  and  naturalness.  I'll  be  responsible  for 
the  result.  She  shall  wear  bonnets  whenever 
she  wants  to,  and  go  without  them  whenever 
that  pleases  her  best ;  when  she  wants  to  go  bare- 
foot and  wade  in  the  branches,  as  all  healthy 
children  like  to  do,  she  shall  not  be  told  that  her 
conduct  is  '  highly  improper,'  and  all  that  non- 
sense. O,  I  know,"  he  said,  in  anticipation  of 
a  protest  that  he  saw  coming,  "I  know  she'll 
get  '  dreadfully  tanned,'  and  become  a  tomboy 
—  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  But  I'll  answer  for  it 
that  when  she  grows  up  her  perfectly  healthy 
skin  will  bear  comparison  with  the  complexion 
of  the  worst  house-burnt  young  woman  in  all 
the  land,  and  as  for  her  figure,  nature  will  take 
care  of  that  under  the  life  of  liberty  that  she's 
going  to  live,  in  the  air  and  sunshine." 
"  But  you'll  surely  send  her  to  school  ?  " 
"  Not  if  I  retain  my  senses.  I  remember  my 
humanities  well  enough  to  teach  her  all  the 
Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics  she  needs.  We'll 
read  history  and  literature  together,  and  as  for 
French,  I  speak  that  language  a  good  deal  better 
than  most  of  the  dapper  little  dancing-masters 

34 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

do  who  keep  '  young  ladies'  seminaries.'  We'll 
ride  horseback  together  every  day,  and  I'll  teach 
her  French  while  I'm  teaching  her  how  to  take 
an  eight-rail  fence  at  a  gallop." 

The  remonstrances  were  continued  for  a  time, 
until  one  day  the  old  gentleman  made  an  end  of 
them  by  saying: 

"  I  have  heard  all  I  want  to  hear  on  that  sub- 
ject. It  is  not  to  be  mentioned  to  me  again." 

Everybody  who  knew  Colonel  Archer  knew 
that  when  he  spoke  in  that  tone  of  mingled  de- 
termination and  self-restraint,  it  was  a  dictate 
of  prudence  to  respect  his  wish.  So  after  that 
Agatha  and  he  lived  alone  at  Willoughby,  a  plan- 
tation in  Northern  Virginia  three  or  four  days 
distant  by  carriage  from  The  Oaks, 

Morning,  noon,  and  night,  these  two  were 
inseparable  companions.  "  Chummie  "  was  the 
pet  name  she  gave  him  in  her  childish  days,  and 
he  would  never  permit  her  to  address  him  by 
any  other  as  she  grew  up. 

Old  soldier  that  he  was,  —  for  he  had  com- 
manded a  company  under  Jackson  at  New  Or- 
leans, and  had  been  a  colonel  during  the  war 
with  Mexico,  —  it  was  his  habit  to  exact  im- 

35 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

plicit  obedience  within  his  own  domain.  He 
was  the  kindliest  of  masters,  but  his  will  was 
law  on  the  plantation,  and  as  everybody  there 
recognised  the  fact,  he  never  had  occasion  to 
give  an  order  twice,  or  to  mete  out  censure  for 
disobedience.  But  for  Agatha  there  was  no  law. 
Colonel  Archer  would  permit  none,  while  she  in 
her  turn  made  it  her  one  study  in  life  to  be  and 
do  whatever  her  "  Chummie  "  liked  best. 

Colonel  Archer  had  a  couple  of  gardeners, 
of  course,  but  their  work  was  mainly  to  do  the 
rougher  things  of  horticulture.  He  and  Agatha 
liked  to  do  the  rest  for  themselves.  They  pre- 
pared the  garden-beds,  seeded  them,  and  care- 
fully nursed  their  growths  into  fruitage,  he  teach- 
ing her,  as  they  did  so,  that  love  of  all  growing 
things  which  is  botany's  best  lesson. 

"  And  the  plants  love  us  back  again,  Chummie," 
she  one  day  said  to  him,  while  she  was  still  a 
little  child.  "  They  smile  when  we  go  near  them, 
and  sometimes  the  pansies  whisper  to  me.  I'm 
sure  of  that." 

She  was  at  that  time  a  slender  child,  with 
big,  velvety  brown  eyes  and  a  tangled  mass  of 
brown  hair  which  her  maid  Martha  struggled  in 

36 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

vain  to  reduce  to  subjection.  She  usually  put  on 
a  sunbonnet  when  she  went  to  the  garden  in 
the  early  morning;  but  when  it  obstructed  her 
vision,  or  otherwise  annoyed  her,  she  would  push 
it  off,  letting  it  fall  to  her  back  and  hang  by  its 
strings  about  her  neck.  Even  then  it  usually  be- 
came an  annoyance,  particularly  when  she  wanted 
to  climb  a  fruit-tree,  and  Martha  would  find  it 
later,  resting  upon  a  cluster  of  rose-bushes,  or 
hung  upon  a  fence-paling. 

The  pair  of  chums  —  the  sturdy  old  gentleman 
and  the  little  girl  —  had  no  regular  hours  for 
any  of  their  employments,  but  at  some  hour 
of  every  day,  they  got  out  their  books  and  read 
or  studied  together. 

They  were  much  on  horseback,  too,  and  when 
autumn  came  they  would  tramp  together  through 
stubble  fields  and  broom-straw  growths,  shooting 
quails  on  the  wing  —  partridges,  they  correctly 
called  them,  as  it  is  the  habit  of  everybody  in 
Virginia  to  do,  for  the  reason  that  the  bird  which 
the  New  York  marketman  calls  "  quail,"  is  prop- 
erly named  "  Partridge  Virginiensis,"  while  the 
bird  that  the  marketman  sells  as  a  partridge  is  not 
a  partridge  at  all,  but  a  grouse.  The  girl  became  a 

37 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

good  shot  during  her  first  season,  and  a  year  later 
she  challenged  her  grandfather  to  a  match,  to  see 
who  could  bag  the  greater  number  of  birds.  At 
the  end  of  the  morning's  sport,  her  bag  out- 
numbered her  companion's  by  two  birds ;  but  when 
the  count  was  made,  she  looked  with  solemn  eyes 
into  her  grandfather's  face  and,  shaking  her  head 
in  displeasure,  said: 

"  Chummie,  you've  been  cheating !  I  don't  like 
to  think  it  of  you,  but  it's  true.  You've  missed 
several  birds  on  purpose  to  let  me  get  ahead  of 
you.  I'll  never  count  birds  with  you  again." 

The  old  gentleman  tried  to  laugh  the  matter 
off,  but  the  girl  would  not  consent  to  that.  After 
awhile  she  said :  "  I'll  forgive  you  this  time, 
Chummie;  but  I'll  never  count  birds  with  you 
again." 

"  But  why  not,  Ladybird?  " 

"  Why,  because  you  don't  like  to  beat  me,  and 
I  don't  like  to  beat  you.  So  if  we  go  on  count- 
ing birds  and  each  trying  to  lose  the  match,  we'll 
get  to  be  very  bad  shots.  Besides  that,  Chummie, 
cheating  will  impair  your  character." 

But  the  girl  was  not  left  without  the  compan- 
ionship of  girls  of  her  own  age.  Colonel  Archer 

38 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

was  too  wise  a  student  of  human  nature  for  that. 
So  from  the  beginning  he  planned  to  give  her 
the  companionship  she  needed. 

"  You  are  the  mistress  of  Willoughby,  you 
know,  Agatha,"  he  said  to  her  one  day,  "  and 
you  must  keep  up  the  reputation  of  the  place  for 
hospitality.  You  must  have  your  dining-days 
like  the  rest,  and  invite  your  friends." 

And  she  did  so.  She  would  send  out  her  little 
notes,  written  in  a  hand  that  closely  resembled 
that  of  her  grandfather,  begging  half  a  dozen 
girls,  daughters  of  the  planters  round  about,  to 
dine  with  her,  and  they  would  come  in  their 
carriages,  attended  by  their  negro  maids.  It 
was  Colonel  Archer's  delight  to  watch  Agatha 
on  these  occasions,  and  observe  the  very  serious 
way  in  which  she  sought  to  discharge  her  duties 
as  a  hospitable  hostess  in  becoming  fashion. 

A  little  later  he  encouraged  her  to  invite  two 
or  three  of  her  young  friends,  now  and  then,  to 
stay  for  a  few  days  or  a  week  with  her,  after  the 
Virginian  custom.  But  not  until  she  was  twelve 
years  old  did  he  consent  to  spare  her  for  longer 
than  a  single  night.  Then  he  agreed  with  The 
Oaks  ladies  that  she  should  spend  a  few  weeks 

39 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

in  the  spring  and  a  few  in  the  late  summer  or 
autumn  of  every  year  with  them.  They  wel- 
comed the  arrangement  as  one  which  would  at 
least  give  them  an  opportunity  to  "  form  the 
girl."  During  her  semi-annual  visits  to  The 
Oaks  they  very  diligently  set  themselves  to  work 
drilling  her  in  the  matter  of  respect  for  the  for- 
malities of  life. 

The  process  rather  interested  Agatha,  and 
sometimes  it  even  amused  her.  She  was  sol- 
emnly enjoined  not  to  do  things  that  she  had 
never  thought  of  doing,  and  as  earnestly  in- 
structed to  do  things  which  she  had  never  in  her 
life  neglected  to  do. 

At  first  she  was  too  young  to  formulate  the 
causes  of  her  interest  and  amusement  in  this 
process.  But  her  mind  matured  rapidly  in  asso- 
ciation with  her  grandfather,  and  she  began  at 
last  to  analyse  the  matter. 

"  When  I  go  to  The  Oaks,"  she  wrote  to  her 
"  Chummie  "  one  day,  "  I  feel  like  a  sinner  going 
to  do  penance;  but  the  penance  is  rattier  amusing 
than  annoying.  I  am  made  to  feel  how  shockingly 
improper  I  have  been  at  Willoughby  with  you, 
Chummie,  during  the  preceding  six  months,  and 
40 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

how  necessary  it  is  for  me  to  submit  myself  for 
a  season  to  a  control  that  shall  undo  the  effects 
of  the  liberty  in  which  I  live  at  Willoughby.  I 
am  made  to  understand  that  liberty  is  the  very 
worst  thing  a  girl  or  a  woman  can  indulge  herself 
in.  Am  I  very  bad,  Chummie?" 

For  answer  the  old  gentleman  laughed  aloud. 
Then  he  wrote : 

"  You  see  how  shrewdly  I  have  managed  this 
thing,  Ladybird.  I  wouldn't  let  you  go  to  The 
Oaks  till  you  had  become  too  fully  confirmed  in 
your  habit  of  being  free,  ever  to  be  reformed." 

Later,  and  more  seriously,  he  said  to  the  girl : 

"  Every  human  being  is  the  better  for  being 
free  —  women  as  well  as  men.  Liberty  to  a 
human  being  is  like  sunshine  and  fresh  air.  Re- 
straint is  like  medicine  —  excellent  for  those  who 
are  ill,  but  very  bad  indeed  for  healthy  people.  Did 
it  ever  occur  to  you,  Agatha,  that  you  never  took 
a  pill  or  a  powder  in  your  life?  You  haven't 
needed  medicine  because  you've  had  air  and  sun- 
shine; no  more  do  you  need  restraint,  and  for 
the  same  reason.  You  are  perfectly  healthy  in 
your  mind  as  well  as  in  your  body." 

"  But,  Chummie,  you  don't  know  how  very  ill 

41 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

regulated  I  am.  Aunt  Sarah  and  Aunt  Jane  dis- 
approve very  seriously  of  many  things  that  I 
do." 

"What  things?" 

"  Well,  they  say,  for  example,  that  it  is  very 
unladylike  for  me  to  call  you  '  Chummie,'  — 
that  it  indicates  a  want  of  that'  respect  for  age 
and  superiority  which  every  young  person  — 
you  know  I  am  only  a  '  young  person  '  to  them 
—  should  scrupulously  cultivate." 

"  Well,  now,  let  me  give  you  warning,  Miss 
Agatha  Ronald;  if  you  ever  call  me  anything 
but  '  Chummie,'  I'll  alter  my  will,  and  leave  this 
plantation  to  the  Abolitionist  Society  as  an  experi- 
ment station." 

Nevertheless,  Agatha  Ronald  was,  as  has  been 
said  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  a  particu- 
larly well  ordered  young  gentlewoman  so  long  as 
she  remained  as  a  guest  with  her  aunts  at  The 
Oaks.  She  loved  the  gentle  old  ladies  dearly, 
and  strove  with  all  her  might,  while  with  them, 
to  comport  herself  in  accordance  with  their  stan- 
dards of  conduct  on  the  part  of  a  young  gentle- 
woman. 

Sometimes,  however,  her  innocence  misled 
42 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

her,  as  it  had  done  on  that  morning  when 
Baillie  Peg-ram  had  met  her  at  the  bridge  over 
Dogwood  Branch.  The  spirit  of  the  morning  had 
taken  possession  of  her  on  that  occasion,  and  she 
had  so  far  reverted  from  her  condition  of  dame- 
nurtured  grace  into  her  habitual  state  of  nature 
as  to  mount  her  horse  and  ride  away  without  the 
escort  even  of  a  negro  groom.  It  was  not  at 
all  unusual  at  that  time  for  young  gentlewomen 
in  Virginia  to  ride  thus  alone,  but  The  Oaks  ladies 
strongly  disapproved  the  custom,  as  they  disap- 
proved all  other  customs  that  had  come  into  being 
since  their  own  youth  had  passed  away,  especially 
all  customs  that  in  any  way  tended  to  enlarge  the 
innocent  liberty  of  young  women.  On  this  point 
the  good  ladies  were  as  rigidly  insistent  as  if  they 
had  been  the  ladies  superior  of  a  convent  of  young 
nuns.  They  could  not  have  held  liberty  for  young 
gentlewomen  in  greater  'dread  and  detestation, 
had  they  believed,  as  they  certainly  did  not,  in 
the  total  depravity  of  womankind. 

"  It  is  not  that  we  fear  you  would  do  anything 
wrong,  dear,"  they  would  gently  explain.  "  It 
is  only  that  —  well,  you  see  a  young  gentlewoman 
cannot  be  too  careful." 

43 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Agatha  did  not  see,  but  she  yielded  to  the 
prejudices  of  her  aunts  with  a  loyalty  all  the  more 
creditable  to  her  for  the  reason  that  she  did  not 
and  could  not  share  their  views.  On  this  occasion 
she  had  not  thought  of  offending.  It  had  not 
occurred  to  her  that  there  could  be  the  slightest 
impropriety  in  her  desire  to  greet  the  morning 
on  horseback,  and  certainly  it  had  not  entered 
her  mind  that  she  might  meet  Baillie  Pegram  and 
be  compelled  to  accept  a  courtesy  at  his  hands. 
She  knew,  as  she  rode  silently  homeward  after 
that  meeting  at  the  bridge,  that  in  this  respect 
she  had  sinned  beyond  overlooking. 

For  Agatha  Ronald  knew  that  she  must  be 
on  none  but  the  most  distant  and  formal  terms 
with  the  master  of  Warlock.  She  had  learned 
that  lesson  at  Christmas-time,  three  months  be- 
fore. She  had  spent  the  Christmas  season  in 
Richmond,  with  some  friends.  There  Baillie 
Pegram  had  met  her  for  the  first  time  since  she 
had  attained  her  womanhood  —  for  he  had  been 
away  at  college,  at  law  school,  or  on  his 
travels  at  the  time  of  all  her  more  recent 
sojourns  at  The  Oaks.  He  had  known  her  very 
slightly  as  a  shy  and  wild  little  girl,  but  the 

44 


Agatha   Ronald 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

woman  Agatha  was  a  revelation  to  him,  and  her 
beauty  not  less  than  her  charm  of  manner  and 
her  unusual  intelligence,  had  fascinated  him.  He 
frequented  the  house  of  her  Richmond  friends, 
and  had  opportunities  to  learn  more  every  day  of 
herself.  He  did  not  pause  to  analyse  his  feeling 
for  her;  he  only  knew  that  it  was  quite  different 
from  any  that  he  had  ever  experienced  before. 
And  Agatha,  in  her  turn  and  in  her  candor,  had 
admitted  to  herself  that  she  "  liked  "  young  Pe- 
gram  better  than  any  other  young  man  she  had 
ever  met. 

No  word  of  love  had  passed  between  these 
two,  and  both  were  unconscious  of  their  state 
of  mind,  when  their  intercourse  was  suddenly 
interrupted.  A  note  came  to  Baillie  one  day  from 
Agatha,  in  which  the  frank  and  fearlessly  honest 
young  woman  wrote : 

"  I  am  not  to  see  you  any  more,  Mr.  Pegram. 
I  am  informed  by  my  relatives  that  there  are  cir- 
cumstances for  which  neither  of  us  is  responsible, 
which  render  it  quite  improper  that  you  and  I 
should  be  friends.  I  am  very  sorry,  but  I  think  it 
my  duty  to  tell  you  this  myself.  I  thank  you  for 


45 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

all  your  kindnesses  to  me  before  we  knew  about 
this  thing." 

That  was  absolutely  all  there  was  of  the  note, 
but  it  was  quite  enough.  It  had  set  Baillie  to 
inquiring  concerning  a  feud  of  which  he  vaguely 
knew  the  existence,  but  to  which  he  had  never 
before  given  the  least  attention. 

That  is  how  it  came  about  that  Agatha  rode 
sadly  homeward  after  the  meeting  at  the  bridge, 
wondering  how  she  could  have  done  otherwise 
than  accept  the  use  of  Baillie  Pegram's  mare, 
and  wondering  still  more  what  her  aunts  would 
say  to  her  concerning  the  matter. 

"  Anyhow,"  she  thought  at  last,  "  I've  done 
no  intentional  wrong.  Chummie  would  not  blame 
me  if  he  were  here,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  I 
shall  accept  much  blame  at  anybody's  else  hands. 
I'll  be  good  and  submissive  if  I  can,  but  —  well, 
I  don't  know.  Maybe  I'll  hurry  back  home  to 
Chummie." 


46 


Ill 

JESSAMINE  AND  HONEYSUCKLE 

IT  was  a  peculiarity  of  inherited  quarrels  be- 
tween old  Virginia  families  that  they  must 
never  be  recognised  outwardly  by  any  act 
of  discourtesy,  and  still  less  by  any  neglect  of 
formal  attention  where  courtesy  was  called  for. 
Such  quarrels  were  never  mentioned  between  the 
families  that  were  involved  in  them,  and  equally 
they  were  never  forgotten.  Each  member  of  either 
family  owed  it  to  himself  to  treat  all  members 
of  the  other  family  with  the  utmost  deference, 
while  never  for  a  moment  permitting  that  defer- 
ence to  lapse  into  anything  that  could  be  con- 
strued to  mean  forgiveness  or  forgetfulness. 

Agatha,  as  we  have  seen,  had  twice  violated 
the  code  under  which  such  affairs  were  conducted ; 
once  in  the  note  she  had  sent  to  Baillie  Pegram  in 
Richmond,  and  for  the  second  time  in  giving 
him  permission  to  call  at  The  Oaks  to  inquire 

47 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

concerning  her  journey  homeward  on  his  mare. 
But  on  both  occasions  she  had  been  out  of  the 
presence  and  admonitory  influence  of  her  aunts, 
and  when  absent  from  them,  Agatha  Ronald  was 
not  at  all  well  regulated,  as  we  know.  She  was 
given  to  acting  upon  her  own  natural  and  healthy- 
minded  impulses,  and  such  impulses  were  apt  to 
be  at  war  with  propriety  as  propriety  was  under- 
stood and  insisted  upon  at  The  Oaks. 

But  Baillie  Pegram  was  not  minded  to  make 
any  mistake  in  a  matter  of  so  much  delicacy  and 
importance.  He  had  received  Agatha's  permis- 
sion to  make  that  formal  call  of  inquiry,  which 
was  customary  on  all  such  occasions,  and  she  in 
her  heedlessness  had  probably  meant  what  she 
said,  as  it  was  her  habit  to  do.  But  Baillie  knew 
very  well  that  her  good  aunts  would  neither  ex- 
pect nor  wish  him  to  call  upon  their  niece.  At 
the  same  time  he  must  not  leave  his  omission  to 
do  so  unexplained.  He  must  send  a  note  of 
apology,  not  to  Agatha,  —  as  he  would  have  done 
to  any  other  young  woman  under  like  circum- 
stances, —  but  to  her  aunts  instead.  In  a  note 
to  them  he  reported  his  sudden  summons  to  Rich- 
mond, adding  that  as  he  was  uncertain  as  to  the 

48 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

length  of  his  stay  there,  he  begged  the  good  ladies 
to  accept  his  absence  from  home  as  his  sufficient 
excuse  for  not  calling  to  inquire  concerning  the 
behaviour  of  his  mare  during  their  niece's  journey 
upon  that  rather  uncertain-minded  animal's  back. 
This  note  he  gave  to  Sam  for  delivery,  when  Sam 
brought  him  the  horse  he  had  ordered  but  no 
longer  wanted. 

Baillie  Pegram  had  all  the  pride  of  his  lineage 
and  his  class.  He  had  sought  to  forget  all  about 
Agatha  Ronald  after  her  astonishing  little  note 
had  come  to  him  some  months  before  in  Rich- 
mond, and  until  this  morning  he  had  believed 
that  he  had  accomplished  that  forgetfulness.  But 
now  the  thought  of  her  haunted  him  ceaselessly. 
All  the  way  to  Richmond  her  beauty  and  her 
charm,  as  she  had  stood  there  by  the  roadside, 
filled  his  mind  with  visions  that  tortured  him. 
He  tried  with  all  his  might  to  dismiss  the  visions 
and  to  think  of  something  else.  He  bought  the 
daily  papers  and  tried  to  interest  himself  in  their 
excited  utterances,  but  failed.  Red-hot  leaders, 
that  were  meant  to  stir  all  Virginian  souls  to 
wrathful  resolution,  made  no  impression  on  his 
mind.  He  read  them,  and  knew  not  what 

49 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

he  had  read.  He  was  thinking  of  the  girl  by  the 
roadside,  and  his  soul  was  fascinated  with  the 
memory  of  her  looks,  her  words,  her  finely  mod- 
ulated voice,  her  ways,  as  she  had  tried  to  refuse 
his  offer  of  assistance.  Had  he  been  of  vain  and 
conceited  temper,  he  might  have  flattered  himself 
with  the  thought  that  her  very  hauteur  in  con- 
verse with  him  implied  something  more  and  better 
than  indifference  on  her  part  toward  him.  But 
that  thought  did  not  enter  his  mind.  He  thought 
instead : 

"  What  a  sublimated  idiot  I  am !  That  girl 
is  nothing  to  me  —  worse  than  nothing.  Cir- 
cumstances place  her  wholly  outside  my  acquaint- 
ance, except  in  the  most  formal  fashion.  She  is 
a  young  gentlewoman  of  my  own  class  —  dis- 
tinctly superior  to  all  the  other  young  gentle- 
women of  that  class  whom  I  have  ever  met,  —  and 
ordinarily  it  would  be  the  most  natural  thing 
in  the  world  for  me  to  pay  my  addresses  to  her. 
But  in  this  case  that  is  completely  out  of  the 
question.  To  me  at  least  she  is  the  unattainable. 
I  must  school  myself  to  think  of  her  no  more, 
and  that  ought  to  be  easy  enough,  as  I  am  not 
in  love  with  her  and  am  not  permitted  even  to 

50 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

think  of  being  so.  It's  simply  a  craze  that  has 
taken  possession  of  me  for  a  time,  —  the  instinct 
of  the  huntsman,  to  whom  quarry  is  desirable  in 
the  precise  ratio  of  its  elusiveness.  There,  I've 
thought  the  whole  thing  out  to  an  end,  and  now 
I  must  give  my  mind  to  something  more  impor- 
tant." 

Yet  even  in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  that 
prevailed  in  Richmond  that  day,  Baillie  Pegram 
did  not  quite  succeed  in  driving  out  of  his  mind 
the  memory  of  the  little  tableau  by  the  bridge, 
or  forgetting  how  supremely  fascinating  Agatha 
Ronald  had  seemed,  as  she  had  haughtily  de- 
clined his  offer  of  service,  and  still  more  as  she 
had  reluctantly  accepted  it,  and  ridden  away  after 
so  cleverly  evading  his  offer  to  help  her  mount. 

It  had  been  his  purpose  to  remain  in  Richmond 
for  a  week  or  more,  but  on  the  third  morning  he 
found  himself  homeward  bound,  and  filled  with 
vain  imaginings.  Just  why  he  had  started  home- 
ward before  the  intended  time,  it  would  have 
puzzled  him  to  say;  but  several  times  he  caught 
himself  wondering  if  there  would  be  awaiting 
him  at  Warlock  an  answer  to  his  formal  note  of 
apology  for  not  having  made  a  call  which  nobody 

51 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

had  expected  him  to  make.  He  perfectly  knew 
that  no  such  answer  was  to  be  expected,  and  es- 
pecially.  that  if  there  should  be  any  answer  at 
all,  it  must  be  one  of  formal  and  repellent  cour- 
tesy, containing  no  message  from  Agatha  of  the 
kind  that  his  troubled  imagination  persisted  in 
conceiving  in  spite  of  the  scorn  with  which  he 
rejected  the  absurd  conjecture. 

Nevertheless  as  he  neared  home  he  found  him- 
self half-expecting  to  find  there  an  answer  to 
his  note,  and  he  found  it.  It  gave  him  no  pleasure 
in  the  reading,  and  in  his  present  state  of  mind 
he  could  not  find  even  a  source  of  amusement  in 
the  stilted  formality  of  its  rhetoric.  It  had  been 
written  by  one  of  Agatha's  aunts,  and  signed  by 
both  of  them.  Thus  it  ran : 

"  The  Misses  Ronald  of  The  Oaks  feel  them- 
selves deeply  indebted  to  Mr.  Baillie  Pegram  for 
his  courtesy  to  their  niece  and  guest,  Miss  Agatha 
Ronald,  on  the  occasion  of  her  recent  misad- 
venture. They  have  also  to  thank  Mr.  Pegram 
most  sincerely  for  having  taken  upon  himself  the 
disagreeable  duty  of  giving  painless  death  to  the 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

unfortunate  animal  that  their  niece  was  riding 
upon  that  occasion.  They  have  to  inform  Mr. 
Peg-ram  that  as  Miss  Agatha  Ronald  is  making 
her  preparations  for  an  almost  immediate  return 
to  her  maternal  grandfather's  plantation  of  Wil- 
loughby,  in  Fauquier,  and  as  she  will  probably 
begin  her  journey  before  Mr.  Pegram's  return 
from  Richmond,  there  will  scarcely  be  oppor- 
tunity for  his  intended  call  to  inquire  concerning 
her  welfare  after  her  homeward  ride  upon  the 
mare  which  he  so  graciously  placed  at  her  disposal 
at  a  time  of  sore  need.  They  beg  to  report  that 
the  beautiful  animal  behaved  with  the  utmost  gen- 
tleness during  the  journey. 

"  The  Oaks  ladies  beg  to  assure  Mr.  Pegram  of 
their  high  esteem,  and  to  express  their  hope  that 
he  will  permit  none  of  the  events  of  this  troubled 
time  to  prevent  him  from  dining  with  them  at 
The  Oaks  on  the  third  Friday  of  each  month, 
as  it  has  been  his  courteous  custom  to  do  in  the 
past.  The  Misses  Ronald  remain, 
"  Most  respectfully, 

,-  "  SARAH   RONALD, 
"JANE  RONALD." 


53 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

This  missive  was  more  than  a  little  bewilder- 
ing. Its  courtesy  was  extreme.  Even  in  prac- 
tically telling  Baillie  Pegram  not  to  call  upon 
their  niece,  the  good  ladies  had  adroitly  managed 
to  make  their  message  seem  rather  one  of  regret 
than  of  prohibition.  Certainly  there  was  not  a 
word  in  the  missive  at  which  offence  could  be 
taken,  and  not  an  expression  lacking,  the  lack 
of  which  could  imply  negligence.  The  young 
man  read  it  over  several  times  before  he  could 
make  out  its  exact  significance,  and  even  then  he 
was  not  quite  sure  that  he  fully  understood. 

".It  reads  like  a  '  joint  note '  from  the  Powers 
to  the  Grand  Turk,"  he  said  to  the  young 
man  —  his  bosom  friend  —  whom  he  had  found 
awaiting  him  at  Warlock  on  his  return.  This 
young  man,  Marshall  Pollard,  had  been  Baillie 
Pegram's  intimate  at  the  university,  and  now  that 
university  days  were  done,  it  was  his  habit  to 
come  and  go  at  will  at  Warlock,  the  plantation 
of  which  Baillie  was  owner  and  sole  white  occu- 
pant with  the  exception  of  a  maiden  aunt  who 
presided  over  his  household. 

The  intimacy  between  these  two  young  men 
was  always  a  matter  of  wonder  to  their  friends. 

54 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

They  had  few  tastes  in  common,  except  that  both 
had  a  passionate  love  for  books.  Baillie  Pegram 
was  fond  of  fishing  and  shooting  and  riding  to 
hounds.  He  loved  a  horse  from  foretop  to  fet- 
lock. His  friend  cared  nothing  for  sport  of  any 
kind,  and  very  often  he  walked  over  long  dis- 
tances rather  than  "jolt  on  horseback,"  as  he 
explained.  He  was  thoroughly  manly,  but  of 
dreamy,  introspective  moods  and  quiet  tastes. 
But  these  two  agreed  in  their  love  of  books,  and 
especially  of  such  rare  old  books  as  abounded 
in  the  Warlock  library,  the  accumulation  of  gen- 
erations of  cultivated  and  intellectual  men  and 
women.  They  agreed,  too,  in  their  fondness  for 
each  other. 

Marshall  Pollard  was  never  regarded  as  a  guest 
at  Warlock,  or  treated  as  such.  He  came  and 
went  at  will,  giving  no  account  of  either  his 
comings  or  his  goings.  He  did  precisely  as  he 
pleased,  and  so  did  his  host,  neither  ever  thinking 
it  necessary  to  offer  an  apology  for  leaving  the 
other  alone  for  a  day  or  for  a  week,  as  the  case 
might  be.  Pollard  had  his  own  quarters  in  the 
rambling  old  house,  with  perfect  liberty  for  their 
best  furnishing.  Often  the  two  friends  became 

55 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

interested  together  in  a  single  subject  of  literary 
or  historical  study,  and  would  pore  over  piles  of 
books  in  the  great  hallway  if  it  rained,  and  out 
under  the  spreading  trees  on  the  lawn  if  the 
weather  were  fair.  Often,  on  the  other  hand, 
their  moods  would  take  different  courses,  and  for 
days  together  they  would  scarcely  see  each  other 
except  at  meal-times.  Theirs  was  a  friendship 
that  trusted  itself  implicitly. 

"  It's  an  ideal  friendship,  this  of  yours  and 
mine,"  said  Marshall,  in  his  dreamy  way,  one  day. 
"  It  never  interferes  with  the  perfect  liberty  of 
either.  What  a  pity  it  is  that  it  must  come  to  an 
end!" 

"  But  why  should  it  come  to  an  end  ?  "  asked 
his  less  introspective  friend. 

"  O,  because  one  or  the  other  of  us  will 
presently  take  to  himself  a  wife,"  was  the  answer. 

"  But  why  should  that  make  a  difference?  It 
will  not  if  I  am  the  one  to  marry  first.  That  will 
only  make  your  life  at  Warlock  the  pleasanter 
for  you.  It  will  give  you  two  devoted  friends 
instead  of  one." 

"  It  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind,"  answered 
Pollard,  with  that  confidence  of  tone  which  sug- 

56 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

gests  that  a  matter  has  been  completely  thought 
out.  "  Our  friendship  is  based  upon  the  fact  that 
we  both  care  more  for  each  other  than  for  any- 
body else.  When  you  get  married,  you'll  nat- 
urally and  properly  care  more  for  your  wife  than 
for  me.  You'd  be  a  brute  if  you  didn't,  and  I'd 
quarrel  with  you.  After  your  marriage  we  shall 
continue  to  be  friends,  of  course,  but  not  in  the  old 
way.  I'll  come  to  Warlock  whenever  I  please,  and 
go  away  whenever  it  suits  me  to  go,  just  as  I  do 
now.  But  I  shall  make  my  bow  to  my  lady 
when  I  come,  and  my  adieus  to  her  when  I  take 
my  departure.  I'll  enjoy  doing  that,  because  I 
know  that  your  wife  will  be  a  charming  person, 
worthy  of  your  devotion  to  her.  But  it  will  not 
be  the  same  as  now.  And  it  will  be  best  so. 
'  Male  and  female  created  he  them,'  and  it  would 
be  an  abominable  shame  if  you  were  to  remain 
single  for  many  years  to  come.  It  is  your  duty, 
and  it  will  presently  be  your  highest  pleasure 
to  make  some  loving  and  lovable  woman  as  happy 
as  God  intended  her  to  be.  Better  than  that  —  the 
love  of  a  good  woman  will  make  your  life  richer 
and  worthier  than  it  is  now.  It  will  ennoble 
you,  and  fit  you  for  the  life  that  your  good'qual- 

57 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

ities  destine  you  to  lead.  You  see  I've  been  study- 
ing your  case,  Baillie,  and  I've  made  up  my  mind 
that  there  never  was  a  man  who  needed  to  marry 
more  than  you  do.  You're  a  thoroughly  good 
fellow  now  —  but  that's  about  all.  You'll  be 
something  mightily  better  than  that,  when  you 
have  the  inspiration  of  a  good  woman's  love  to 
spur  you  out  of  your  present  egotistic  self-con- 
tent, and  give  you  higher  purposes  in  life  than 
those  of  the  well-bred,  respectable  citizen  that 
you  are.  You  pay  your  debts;  you  take  excel- 
lent care  of  your  negroes ;  you  serve  your  neigh- 
bours as  an  unpaid  magistrate  and  all  that,  and  it 
is  all  very  well.  But  you  are  capable  of  much 
higher  things,  and  when  you  get  yourself  a  wife 
worthy  of  you,  you'll  rise  to  a  new  level  of  char- 
acter and  conduct." 

"  And  how  about  you  ?  "  the  friend  asked. 

"  O,  as  for  me,  I  don't  count.  You  see,  I'm 
that  anomalous  thing,  a  Virginian  who  doesn't 
ride  horses  or  care  for  sport.  I'm  abnormal. 
Women  like  me  in  a  way,  and  the  more  elderly 
ones  among  them  do  me  the  honour  to  approve 
me.  But  that  is  all.  Young  women  are  apt  to 
fall  in  love  with  robuster  young  fellows." 

58 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  But  you  are  robust,"  quickly  answered  Baillie, 
"  and  altogether  manly." 

"  No,  I'm  not.  I'm  physically  strong  enough, 
of  course,  but  strength  isn't  all  of  robustness. 
I  can  lift  as  much  as  you  can,  but  I  don't  like 
to  lift,  and  you  do.  I  can  jump  as  high,  but  I 
don't  like  to  jump,  while  you  do.  When  we  were 
canoeing  in  Canada  a  year  ago,  I  could  shoot 
a  rapid  as  well  as  you,  but  I'd  very  much  rather 
have  walked  down  the  bank,  leaving  the  guide 
to  navigate  the  canoe,  while  you  often  sent  the 
guide  about  his  business  and  rebuked  his  im- 
pertinence in  offering  help  where  you  wanted  to 
do  your  own  helping  of  yourself  without  any 
interference  on  his  part.  I  remember  that  just 
as  we  were  starting  on  the  long  and  difficult  jour- 
ney to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  you  dismissed  the 
whole  crew  of  half-breed  hangers-on,  and  we  set 
out  alone.  I  would  never  have  done  that,  greatly 
as  I  detested  the  unclean  company.  I  went  with 
you,  of  course,  but  I  went  relying  upon  you  for 
guidance,  just  as  I  should  have  gone  relying  upon 
the  half-breeds  if  you  had  not  been  with  me.  We 
two  are  differently  built,  I  tell  you.  Now,  even 
here  at  Warlock,  I  send  for  Sam  when  I  want 

59 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

my  studs  changed  from  one  shirt  to  another, 
while  only  this  morning  you  cleaned  your  own 
boots  rather  than  wait  for  Sam  after  you  had 
whistled  for  him  thrice.  I  don't  think  I'm  lazier 
than  you  are,  and  I  know  I'm  not  more  afraid 
of  anything.  But  you  rejoice  in  toilsome  jour- 
neys, while  I  prefer  to  take  them  easily,  hiring 
other  people  to  do  the  hard  work.  You  relish 
danger  just  as  you  do  red  pepper,  while  I  prefer 
safety  and  a  less  pungent  seasoning.  Now,  yo'ung 
women  of  our  kind  and  class  prefer  your  kind  of 
man  to  my  kind,  and  so  you  are  likely  to  marry, 
while  I  am  not.  Another  thing.  I  saw  you  throw 
aside  a  copy  of  Shakespeare  the  other  day  with- 
out even  marking  your  place  in  the  volume,  be- 
cause a  company  of  gentlewomen  had  driven  up 
to  visit  your  aunt,  and  you  completely  forgot  your 
Shakespeare  in  thinking  of  the  gentlewomen. 
Now  I,  in  a  like  case,  should  have  edged  a  little 
farther  around  the  tree,  read  on  to  the  end  of 
the  scene,  marked  my  place,  and  only  then  have 
discovered  that  the  gentlewomen  had  driven  up. 
Women  like  your  ways  better  than  mine,  and 
they  are  entirely  right." 

In  all  this,  Marshall  Pollard  exaggerated  some- 
60 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

what,  in  playful  fashion,  and  to  his  own  dis- 
crediting-. But  in  the  main  his  analysis  of  the 
difference  between  himself  and  his  friend  was 
quite  correct. 

It  was  to  this  friend  that  Baillie  Peg-ram  spoke 
of  the  note  he  had  received  from  The  Oaks 
ladies,  saying  that  it  read  "  like  a  joint  note 
from  the  Powers  to  the  Grand  Turk." 

"  Tell  me  about  it,"  answered  Marshall. 

"  O,  read  it  for  yourself,"  Baillie  replied, 
handing  him  the  sheet.  "  The  stilted  cere- 
moniousness  of  it,"  he  presently  added,  "  is  easy 
enough  to  understand,  but  I  can't,  for  the  life  of 
me,  see  why  the  good  ladies  of  The  Oaks  felt 
it  incumbent  upon  themselves  to  write  to  me  at  all. 
They  are  always  scrupulously  attentive  to  forms 
and  conventionalities  when  discharging  any  obli- 
gation of  courtesy,  and  in  this  case  they  have  had 
the  rather  embarrassing  duty  imposed  upon  them 
of  telling  me  not  to  call  upon  their  niece,  who  is 
also  their  guest.  That  sufficiently  accounts  for 
the  stiff  formality  of  their  rhetoric,  and  their 
scrupulous  attention  to  the  niceties  of  courtesy  in 
the  embarrassing  case,  but  —  " 

"  Remember,  also,"  broke  in  Marshall  Pollard, 

61 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"that  they  are  'maiden  ladies,'  while  you,  my  dear, 
unsuspicious  boy,  are  a  particularly  marriageable 
young  man." 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense,  Marshall ;  this  is  a 
serious  matter,"  answered  Baillie. 

"  It  isn't  nonsense  at  all  that  I'm  talking,"  said 
his  friend.  "  I'm  speaking  only  words  of  '  truth 
and  soberness.'  The  Misses  Sarah  and  Jane 
Ronald,  as  I  understand  the  matter,  are  highly 
bred  and  blue-bloodedly  descended  Virginia  gen- 
tlewomen, who  happen  to  be  as  yet  unmarried. 
Very  naturally  and  properly  they  adopt  a  guarded 
manner  in  addressing  a  missive  to  a  peculiarly 
marriageable  young  gentleman  like  you,  lest  their 
intentions  be  misinterpreted." 

"  Why,  they  are  old  enough,"  Baillie  replied, 
"  to  be  my  grandmothers !  " 

"  True,"  answered  the  other,  "  but  you  wouldn't 
venture  to  suggest  that  fact  to  the  mind  of  either 
of  them,  would  you,  Baillie?" 

"  Certainly  not,  but  —  " 

"  Certainly  not.     And  certainly  they  in  their 

turn   do  not  give  special   weight   to  that   fact. 

When   will  you   learn  to  understand  women  a 

little  bit,  Baillie  ?    Don't  you  know  that  no  woman 

62 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

ever  thinks  of  herself  as  too  old  or  too  ugly  or 
too  unattractive  to  fascinate  a  young  man  ?  Espe- 
cially no  well-bred  spinster,  accustomed  to  be 
courted  in  her  youth,  and  treated  with  deference 
in  her  middle  age,  ever  realises  that  she  is  so  old 
as  to  be  privileged  to  lay  aside  those  reserves 
with  .which  she  was  trained  in  youth  to  guard 
her  maidenly  modesty  against  the  ugly  imputa- 
tion of  a  desire  to  '  throw  herself  at  the  head  ' 
of  a  young  gentleman  possessed  of  good  man- 
ners, good  looks,  an  old  family  name,  and  a  plan- 
tation of  five  or  six  thousand  acres  ?  Now,  don't 
let  your  vanity  run  away  with  you,  my  boy.  I 
do  not  mean  for  one  moment  to  suggest  that 
either  of  The  Oaks  ladies  would  think  of  accept- 
ing an  offer  of  marriage  from  you  or  anybody 
else.  I  am  too  gallant  to  imagine  that  they  have 
not  had  abundant  opportunities  of  marriage  in 
their  day.  At  the  same  time,  propriety  is  pro- 
priety, you  know,  and  the  conduct  of  an  '  unat- 
tached female '  cannot  be  too  carefully  guarded 
against  the  possibility  of  misinterpretation." 

Baillie  laughed,  and  presently  fell  into  silence 
for  a  space.  Finally  his  companion  lazily  said : 

"  It  is  time  for  you  to  be  off,  if  you  are  going." 

63 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  Going  where?  " 

"  Why,  to  dine  at  The  Oaks,  of  course.  You 
are  invited  for  the  third  Friday  of  each  month, 
if  I  understand  the  matter  correctly,  and  this  is 
the  third  Friday  of  April,  I  believe." 

"  Why,  so  it  is.  I  hadn't  thought  of  the  date. 
By  Jove,  I'll  go!  There's  just  a  chance  that  she 
hasn't  started  yet." 

"  It's  awkward,  of  course,"  said  Pollard,  in 
his  meditative,  philosophical  way,  "especially  with 
this  war  coming  on.  But  these  things  never  will 
adjust  themselves  to  circumstances  in  a  spirit  of 
rationality  and  accommodation." 

"  What  on  earth  do  you  mean,  Marshall  ?  I 
don't  understand." 

"  Of  course  not.  The  bird  caught  in  the  net 
of  the  fowler  does  not  usually  see  just  what  is 
the  matter  with  him." 

"  But  Marshall  —  " 

"  O,  I'll  explain  as  well  as  I  can.  I  mean 
only  that  you  are  in  love  with  Agatha  Ronald. 
Of  course  you're  totally  unconscious  of  your  state 
of  mind,  but  you'll  find  it  out  after  awhile.  It 
is  an  utterly  irrational  state  of  mind  for  you  to 
be  in,  but  the  malady  often  takes  that  form,  I 

64 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

believe,  and  I've  done  you  a  service  in  telling 
you  about  it,  for  as  a  rule  a  man  never  finds  out 
what's  the  matter  with  him  in  such  a  case  until 
some  friend  tells  him.  He  just  goes  on  making 
a  fool  of  himself  until  somebody  else  jogs  his 
elbow  with  information  which  he  alone  has  need 
of.  Now  suppose  you  tell  me  all  about  this  case. 
What  is  it  that  stands  between  you  and  the  young 
lady?" 

Again  Baillie  laughed.  But  this  time  the  laugh 
was  accompanied  by  a  tell-tale  flushing  of  the 
face. 

"  The  whole  thing  is  ridiculous,"  he  presently 
said.  "  It  couldn't  have  happened  anywhere  but 
in  this  dear  old  Virginia  of  ours.  I'll  tell  you  all 
I  know  about  it.  My  grandfather  whom  I  never 
saw  in  my  life,  and  Miss  Agatha  Ronald's  father, 
who  died  before  she  was  born,  were  friends,  like 
you  and  me.  They  owned  adjoining  plantations, 
—  Warlock  and  The  Oaks,  both  held  by  original 
grants  to  their  great-grandfathers,  made  in  the 
early  colonial  times.  But  the  county  clerk's  office 
burned  up,  a  generation  or  two  ago,  and  with  it 
all  the  records  that  could  show  where  the  boun- 
daries between  these  two  plantations  lay.  In 

65 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

trying  to  determine  those  boundaries  one  un- 
lucky day,  when  both  had  probably  taken  too 
much  or  too  little  Madeira  for  dinner,  the  two 
irascible  old  gentlemen  fell  into  a  dispute  as  to 
where  the  boundary  line  should  run  through  a 
wretched  little  scrap  of  ground  down  there  on 
Nib's  Creek,  which  never  had  been  cultivated, 
never  has  been,  and  never  will  be.  The  thing 
was  not  worth  a  moment's  thought  in  itself,  but 
the  gout  got  into  it,  or  in  some  other  way  the 
two  absurd  old  gentlemen's  dignity  got  itself 
involved,  and  so  they  quarrelled.  If  there  had 
been  time,  they  would  have  laughed  the  thing 
off  presently  over  a  mint- julep.  But  unhappily 
one  of  them  died,  and  that  made  a  permanent 
family  quarrel  of  the  dispute.  All  the  women  - 
kind  took  it  up  as  an  inherited  feud,  which  made 
it  impossible  that  any  Pegram  should  have  aught 
to  do  with  ajny  Ronald,  or  any  Ronald  with  any 
Pegram.  So  much,  it  was  held,  was  due  to  the 
tender  memory  of  the  dead.  But,  after  our  Vir- 
ginian tradition,  the  individual  members  of  both 
families  have  been  held  bound  to  treat  each  other 
with  the  extreme  of  formal  but  quite  unfriendly 
courtesy.  That  is  why  I  have  been  required, 

66 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

from  my  fifteenth  birthday  onward,  to  dine  at 
The  Oaks  on  the  third  Friday  of  every  month 
when  I  happened  to  be  in  the  county  on  that  day. 
I  had  only  the  vaguest  notion  of  the  situation 
until  last  Christmas,  when  circumstances  brought 
it  to  my  attention.  Then  I  made  my  good  Aunt 
Catherine  tell  me  all  about  it.  When  I  learned 
what  the  matter  in  dispute  was,  I  sent  for  the 
family  lawyer,  and  ordered  him  to  make  out  a 
deed  to  The  Oaks  ladies,  conveying  all  my  right, 
title,  and  interest  in  the  disputed  piece  of  land 
to  them  '  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum 
of  one  dollar  in  hand  paid,  receipt  whereof  is 
hereby  acknowledged.'  I  sent  the  deed  to  The 
Oaks  ladies,  with  a  perhaps  too  effusive  note, 
asking  them  to  accept  it  as  an  evidence  of  my 
desire  to  make  an  end  of  a  quarrel  which  had 
long  alienated  those  who  should  have  remained 
friends." 

"  What  an  idiot  you  made  of  yourself  by  doing 
that !  "  broke  in  young  Pollard. 

"  Of  course,  and  I  soon  found  it  out.  The 
Oaks  ladies  wrote  that  they  had  never,  by  any 
act  or  word,  recognised  the  existence  of  a  quarrel ; 
that  if  such  quarrel  existed,  it  lay  between  the 

67 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

dead,  who  had  not  authorised  them  or  me  to  adjust 
it;  and  that  they,  holding  only  a  life  interest  in 
The  Oaks,  by  virtue  of  their  '  poor  brother's  ' 
kindly  will,  were  not  authorised  either  to  alienate 
any  part  of  the  fee,  or  to  add  to  it,  by  deed  of 
gift  or  otherwise;  that  their  '  poor  brother  '  had 
never  been  accustomed  to  accept  gifts  of  land  or 
of  anything  else  from  others,  and  finally  that 
they  were  sure  his  spirit  would  not  sanction  the 
purchase,  for  the  miserable  consideration  of  one 
dollar,  of  a  piece  of  land  which,  till  the  time  of 
his  death,  he  had  believed  to  be  absolutely  his  own. 
There  was  no  use  arguing  such  a  case  or  explain- 
ing it.  So  I  have  let  it  rest,  and  have  gone  once 
a  month  to  dine  with  The  Oaks  ladies,  as  a  matter 
of  duty.  It's  all  absurd,  but  —  " 

"  But  it  interferes  with  your  interest  in  Miss 
Agatha,"  broke  in  the  friend.  "  Take  my  advice, 
and  dcln't  let  it.  Off  with  you  to  The  Oaks,  and 
ten  to  one  you'll  find  the  young  lady  still  there. 
The  date  of  her  departure  was  not  fixed  when  this 
diplomatic  note  was  despatched,  and  as  you  were 
not  expected  to  receive  the  communication  for  a 
week  to  come,  she  is  probably  still  there.  If  so, 
by  the  way,  please  don't  mention  my  presence  at 

68 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Warlock.  You  see  —  well,  I  have  met  the  young 
lady  at  her  grandfather's,  and  properly  I  ought 
to  pay  my  respects  to  her,  now  that  she's  a  guest 
on  a  plantation  adjoining  that  on  which  I  am 
staying.  But  I  don't  want  to.  Your  saddle- 
horses  jolt  so  confoundedly,  and  besides,  I've  dis- 
covered up-stairs  a  copy  of  old  T.  Gordon's  sev- 
enteenth century  translation  of  Tacitus,  with  his 
essays  on  that  author,  and  his  bitter-tongued 
comments  on  all  preceding  translations  of  his 
favourite  classic.  I  want  an  afternoon  with  the 
old  boy." 

"  You  certainly  are  a  queer  fellow,  Marshall," 
said  Baillie. 

"  How  so  ?    Because  I  like  old  books  ?    Or  is 
it  because  I  don't  like  the  jolting  of  your  horses  ?  " 
"  Why  haven't  you  told  me  that  you  knew 
Miss  Agatha  Ronald  ?  " 

"  I  have  told  you  —  within  the  last  minute."' 
"  But  why  didn't  you  tell  me  before?  " 
"  O,    well,  —  perhaps    I    didn't    think    of   it. 
Never  mind  that.     It  is  time  for  you  to  be  off, 
unless  you  want  the  soup  and  your  welcome  to 
grow  cold  while  waiting  for  you." 


69 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

When  Baillie  had  ridden  away,  Marshall  Pol- 
lard sat  idly  for  a  time  in  the  porch.  Then  tossing 
aside  the  book  he  had  been  holding  in  his  hand 
but  not  reading,  he  rose  and  went  to  his  room. 
There  he  searched  among  his  belongings  for  a 
little  Elzevir  volume,  and  took  from  between  its 
leaves  a  sprig  of  dried  yellow  jessamine. 

"  It  is  a  poisonous  flower,"  he  said,  as  he  tossed 
it  out  of  the  window.  "  She  warned  me  of  that 
when  I  took  it  from  her  hand.  She  was  alto- 
gether right." 

Apparently  pursuing  a  new-born  purpose,  the 
young  man  returned  to  the  porch,  broke  off  a 
sprig  of  honeysuckle  leaves  —  for  the  vine  was 
not  yet  in  flower  —  and  carefully  placed  it  be- 
tween the  pages  of  the  Elzevir. 

"  The  honeysuckle,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  is  un- 
like the  yellow  jessamine.  It  is  sweet  and  whole- 
some. So  is  the  friendship  of  the  man  from 
whose  vine  I  have  plucked  it." 


IV 

IN  REVOLT 

WHEN  Agatha  reached  The  Oaks, 
mounted  upon  Baillie  Pegram's  mare, 
her  reception  at  the  hands  of  her  aunts 
was  one  of  almost  stunned  astonishment.  The  two 
good  ladies  had  learned  an  hour  before  her  coming 
that  she  had  ridden  away  alone  that  morning 
while  yet  they  had  slept,  and  they  had  carefully 
prepared  a  lecture  upon  that  exceeding  impro- 
priety, for  delivery  on  the  young  woman's  return. 
But  when  they  saw  her  dismount  from  Baillie 
Pegram's  mare,  they  were  well-nigh  speechless 
with  horror  at  her  depravity.  The  deliverance 
that  had  been  so  carefully  prepared  for  her 
chastening  no  longer  met  the  requirements  of  the 
case.  A  new  and  far  severer  rebuke  must  be 
extemporised,  and  the  necessity  of  that  was  an 
additional  offence  on  the  part  of  the  young 
woman  who  had  forced  it  upon  them.  They  were 

71 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

not  accustomed  to  speak  extemporaneously  on  any 
subject  of  importance.  To  do  so  involved  the 
danger  of  saying  too  much,  or  saying  it  less  effect- 
ively than  they  wished,  or  —  worse  still  —  leav- 
ing unsaid  things  that  they  very  much  wished  to 
say.  In  response  to  their  horrified  questionings, 
Agatha  made  the  simplest  and  most  direct  state- 
ment possible. 

"  The  morning  was  fine,  and  I  wanted  to  ride. 
I  rode  as  far  as  Dogwood  Branch.  There  my 
poor  horse  —  the  one  that  my  grandfather  sent 
down  for  me  to  ride  while  here  —  met  with  a 
mishap.  His  foot  went  through  a  hole  in  the 
bridge,  and  in  his  struggle  to  extricate  it,  he 
broke  his  leg.  Mr.  Pegram  came  along  and 
released  the  poor  beastie's  foot,  but  it  was  too 
late.  So  he  insisted  upon  my  taking  his  mare, 
and  showed  me  that  I  couldn't  refuse.  He  sent 
his  servant  to  ride  on  a  mule  behind  me  in  case 
I  should  have  trouble  with  his  only  partially 
broken  mare.  He  promised  to  put  my  poor  horse 
out  of  his  misery.  There.  That's  all  there  is 
to  tell." 

The  little  speech  was  made  in  a  tone  and  with 
a  manner  that  suggested  difficult  self-restraint. 
72 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

When  it  was  ended  the  two  good  aunts  sat  for 
a  full  minute  looking  at  the  girl  with  eyes  that 
were  eloquent  of  reproach  —  a  reproach  that  for 
the  moment  could  find  no  fit  words  for  its  expres- 
sion. At  last  the  torrent  came  —  not  with  a 
rushing  violence  of  speech,  but  with  a  steady, 
overwhelming  flow.  The  girl  stood  still,  seem- 
ingly impassive. 

"  Will  you  not  be  seated  ?  "  presently  asked 
Aunt  Sarah. 

"  If  you  don't  mind,  I  prefer  to  stand,"  she 
answered,  in  the  gentlest,  most  submissive  tone 
imaginable,  for  Agatha  —  angry  and  outraged 
—  was  determined  to  maintain  her  self-control 
to  the  end.  Her  gentle  submissiveness  of  seeming 
deceived  her  censors  to  their  undoing.  Satisfied 
that  they  might  rebuke  her  to  their  hearts'  con- 
tent, they  proceeded,  adding  one  word  of  bitter 
reproach  and  condemnation  to  another,  and  wax- 
ing steadily  stronger  in  their  righteous  wrath. 
Still  the  girl  stood  like  a  soldier  under  a  fire 
which  he  is  forbidden  to  return.  Still  she  con- 
trolled her  countenance  and  restrained  herself 
from  speech.  Only  a  slight  flushing  of  the  face, 


73 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

and  now  and  then  a  tremor  of  the  lip,  gave 
indication  of  emotion  of  any  kind. 

Not  until  the  storm  had  completely  expended 
its  wrath  upon  her  head  did  Agatha  Ronald  open 
her  lips.  Then  she  spoke  as  Agatha  Ronald : 

"  Will  you  please  order  my  carriage  to  be  ready 
for  me  on  Saturday  morning,  Aunt  Sarah?  My 
maid  is  too  ill  to  travel  to-morrow  or  the  next 
day.  But  by  Saturday  morning  she  will  be  well 
enough,  and  I  shall  begin  my  journey  to  Wil- 
loughby  at  nine  o'clock,  if  you  will  kindly  order 
a  cup  of  coffee  served  half  an  hour  before  the 
usual  breakfast-time  on  Saturday." 

She  departed  instantly  from  the  room,  giving 
no  time  or  opportunity  for  reply  or  remonstrance. 

"  Perhaps  we  have  spoken  too  severely,  Jane," 
said  Aunt  Sarah. 

Perhaps  they  had.  At  any  rate,  it  had  been 
Agatha's  purpose  to  remain  a  full  month  longer 
at  The  Oaks  before  beginning  the  long  homeward 
carriage  journey  which  alone  Colonel  Archer  per- 
mitted to  his  grandchild.  Railroads  were  new 
in  those  days,  and  Colonel  Archer  had  not  recon- 
ciled himself  to  them. 

"  They  are  convenient  for  carrying  freight," 

74 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

he  said,  "  but  a  young  lady  isn't  freight.  She 
should  travel  in  her  own  carriage." 

Later  in  the  day  Agatha  reappeared,  as  gentle 
and  smiling  as  usual,  and  as  attentive  as  ever  to 
the  comfort  of  her  aunts.  Her  manner  was 
perfect  in  its  docility,  for  she  had  decided  that 
so  long  as  she  should  remain  under  their  roof,  it 
was  her  duty  to  herself,  and  incidentally  to  her 
aunts,  to  minister  in  every  way  she  could  to  their 
pleasure,  and  to  obey  their  slightest  indicated 
wishes  implicitly.  They  were  misled  somewhat 
by  her  manner,  which  they  construed  to  be  an 
indication  of  submission. 

"  You  will  surely  not  think  of  leaving  us  on 
Saturday,  dear,  now  that  you  have  thought  the 
matter  over  calmly,"  said  Aunt  Sarah;  "and 
perhaps  we  spoke  too  severely  this  morning. 
But  you  will  overlook  that,  I  am  sure,  in  view 
of  the  concern  we  naturally  feel  for  your  bringing 
up." 

A  bitter  and  convincing  speech  was  on  the  girl's 
lips  ready  for  delivery,  —  a  speech  in  which  she 
should  declare  her  independence,  and  assert  her 
right  as  a  woman  fully  grown  to  determine  her 
conduct  for  herself  within  the  limits  of  perfect 

75 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

innocence,  —  but  she  drove  it  back  into  her  heart, 
and  restrained  her  utterance  to  the  single  sen- 
tence : 

"  I  shall  begin  my  journey  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing." 

Agatha  Ronald  was  in  revolt  against  an 
authority  which  she  deemed  oppressive,  and  such 
revolt  was  natural  enough  on  the  part  of  a  daugh- 
ter of  Virginia  whose  ancestry  included  three 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
at  least  half  a  dozen  fighting  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution.  It  was  in  her  blood  to  resent  and 
resist  injustice  and  to  defy  the  authority  that 
decreed  injustice.  But  after  the  fashion  of  those 
revolutionary  ancestors  of  hers,  she  would  do 
everything  with  due  attention  to  "  a  decent 
respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind."  She  had 
decided  to  quit  The  Oaks  because  she  could  not 
and  would  not  longer  submit  to  a  discipline  which 
she  felt  to  be  arbitrary,  unreasonable,  and  unjust. 
But  she  was  determined  to  be  as  gentle  and  as 
gentlewomanly  as  possible  in  the  manner  of  her 
leaving.  It  was  her  fixed  purpose  never  again 
to  visit  that  plantation  —  her  birthplace  —  until 
she  should  be  summoned  thither  to  take  posses- 

76 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

sion  as  its  sole  inheritor,  but  she  let  slip  no  hint 
of  this  determination  to  distress  her  aunts,  who, 
after  all,  meant  only  kindness  to  her  by  their 
severity. 

"  I'll  say  nothing  about  it,"  she  resolved.  "  I'll 
just  go  back  to  Chummie.  He  understands  me, 
and  I'll  never  leave  him  again." 


77 


AT  THE   OAKS 

WHEN  Baillie  Pegram  rode  into  The  Oaks 
grounds  on  that  third  Friday  of  April, 
1 86 1,  the  first  person  he  encountered 
was  none  other  than  Agatha.  She  was  gowned  all 
in  white,  except  that  she  had  tied  a  cherry-col- 
oured ribbon  about  her  neck.  She  was  wholly  un- 
bonneted,  and  was  armed  with  a  little  gardening 
implement  —  hoe  on  one  side  and  miniature  rake 
on  the  other.  She  was  busy  over  a  flower-bed, 
and  the  young  man,  rounding  a  curve  in  the 
shrubbery,  came  upon  her,  to  the  complete  sur- 
prise of  both. 

The  situation  might  have  been  embarrassing 
but  for  the  ease  and  perfect  self-possession  with 
which  the  girl  accepted  it.  She  greeted  her  vis- 
itor, to  his  astonishment,  without  any  of  the 
hauteur  that  had  marked  her  demeanour  on  the 
occasion  of  their  last  previous  meeting.  Here  at 

78 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

The  Oaks  she  felt  herself  under  the  entirely  ade- 
quate protection  of  her  aunts.  She  had  therefore 
no  occasion  to  stand  upon  the  defensive.  Out 
there  at  the  bridge  she  had  been  herself  solely 
responsible  for  her  conduct,  and  dependent  upon 
herself  for  the  maintenance  of  her  dignity.  Here 
Mr.  Baillie  Pegram  was  the  guest  of  her  people, 
while  out  there  he  had  been  a  person  casually  and 
unwillingly  encountered,  and  not  on  any  account 
to  be  permitted  any  liberty  of  intercourse.  Be- 
sides all  these  conclusive  differences  of  circum- 
stance, there  was  the  additional  fact  that  Agatha 
was  in  revolt  against  authority,  and  very  strongly 
disposed  to  maintain  her  perfect  freedom  of  inno- ' 
cent  action.  So  she  gave  her  visitor  a  garden- 
gloved  hand  as  he  dismounted,  and  slowly  walked 
with  him  toward  the  house. 

"  I  attended  an  opera  once,"  she  chattered, 
"  when  I  was  a  very  little  girl.  I  remember  that 
I  thought  the  basso  a  porpoise,  and  the  tenor  a 
conceited  popinjay,  and  the  prima  donna  a  fat 
,woman,  but  I  fell  completely  in  love  with  the 
haymakers  in  the  chorus.  So  whenever  I  go 
gardening  I  find  myself  instinctively  trying  to 
make  myself  look  as  like  them  as  I  can.  That,  I 

79 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

suppose,  is  why  I  tied  a  red  ribbon  about  my  neck 
this  morning." 

Here  Baillie  Pegram  missed  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  particularly  gallant  and  flattering  speech. 
To  any  other  woman,  under  like  circumstances, 
he  would  have  said  something  of  her  success  in 
making  a  charmingly  attractive  picture  of  herself. 
But  there  was  much  of  reverence  in  his  admira- 
tion for  Agatha,  and  he  felt  that  a  merely  com- 
plimentary speech  addressed  to  her  would  be  a 
frivolous  impertinence.  So  instead  he  asked: 

"  Do  you  often  go  out  gardening  ?  " 

"  O,  yes,  always  when  the  weather  permits, 
and  sometimes  when  it  forbids.  At  Willoughby 
I've  often  gone  out  in  a  waterproof  to  train  my 
flowers  and  vines.  I'm  just  going  away  from 
The  Oaks,  and  I've  been  digging  up  a  hideously 
formal  bed  which  the  gardener's  soul  delights  in, 
and  sowing  mixed  portulaca  instead  of  the  prig- 
gish plants.  Portulaca  smiles  at  you,  you  know, 
when  you  get  up  soon  enough  in  the  morning  to 
see  it  in  its  glory.  But  I'll  never  see  the  smiles 
in  this  case." 

"But  why  not?" 

"  Why,  I'm  leaving  The  Oaks  on  Saturday, 
80 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

you  know,  —  or  rather  you  do  not  know,  —  and 
I'm  not  coming  back  for  a  long,  long  time." 

"May  I  again  presume  to  ask  why  not?" 

"  O,  well,  I  must  go  to  my  grandfather.  If 
I  don't  he'll  enlist  or  join  a  company,  or  get  a 
commission,  or  whatever  else  it  is  that  a  man 
does  when  he  makes  a  soldier  out  of  himself. 
You  see  I'm  the  only  person  who  can  manage  my 
grandfather." 

"  But  surely,  at  his  age  —  " 

"  O,  yes,  I  know.  He's  over  eighty  now,  but 
you  don't  know  him  very  well,  or  you'd  under- 
stand. He  was  a  soldier  under  Jackson  at  New 
Orleans,  and  a  colonel  in  the  Mexican  War,  and 
he'll  go  into  this  war,  too,  if  I  don't  go  home 
and  tell  him  he  mustn't.  I'm  going  to-morrow 
morning." 

Manifestly  the  girl  wanted  to  chatter.  Women 
often  do  that  when  they  are  anxious  to  avoid 
serious  conversation.  If  men  never  do  it,  it  is 
only  because  they  lack  the  intellectual  alertness 
necessary.  They  hem  and  haw,  and  make  stupid 
remarks  about  the  weather  instead,  and  succeed 
only  in  emphasising  the  embarrassment  which  a 


81 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

woman  would  completely  bury  under  charming 
chatter. 

"  You  haven't  seen  my  aunts  yet,  I  suppose?  " 
Miss  Agatha  presently  asked. 

"  No.  I'm  just  arriving  at  The  Oaks.  I  dine 
here,  you  know,  on  the  third  Friday  of  every 
month." 

"  Yes  —  so  I've  heard.  I  don't  think  the 
aunties  expected  you  to-day.  They'll  be  glad  to 
see  you,  of  course,  but  I  think  they  thought  you 
were  still  in  Richmond." 

Baillie  wondered  if  this  was  a  covert  rebuke  to 
him  for  having  ventured  upon  the  premises  while 
Agatha  was  still  there.  The  girl  was  not  alto- 
gether an  easy  person  to  understand.  In  any 
case  her  remark  revealed  the  fact  that  the  question 
of  his  coming  had  been  discussed  in  the  house 
and  decided  in  the  negative.  It  was  with  some 
embarrassment,  therefore,  that  he  presented  him- 
self to  those  formidable  personages,  The  Oaks 
ladies,  and  tried  to  treat  his  own  coming  quite 
as  a  matter  of  course.  But  if  his  presence  was 
in  any  wise  unwelcome  to  them,  there  was  nothing 
in  their  demeanour  to  suggest  the  fact.  They 
expressed  no  surprise  whatever,  and  only  a  placid, 
82 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

well-bred  self-congratulation  that  absence  had  not 
deprived  them  of  the  pleasure  of  his  company  at 
dinner,  as  they  had  feared  that  it  might.  Then 
one  of  them  added: 

"  It  is  unfortunate  that  Agatha  is  to  dine  at 
The  Forest  to-day,  with  our  cousins,  the  Misses 
Blair.  By  the  way,"  tinkling  a  bell,  "  it  is  time 
to  order  the  carriage,  and  for  you  to  change  your 
gown,  Agatha,  dear." 

Baillie  Pegram  happened  to  catch  sight  of  the 
young  girl's  face  as  these  words  were  spoken, 
and  he  read  there  enough  of  surprise  to  convince 
him  that  if  it  had  been  previously  arranged  for 
her  to  drive  to  The  Forest  for  dinner,  she  at 
least  had  heard  nothing  of  the  matter  until  now. 
But  whether  the  surprise  reflected  in  her  face 
was  one  of  pleasure  or  the  reverse,  she  gave  him 
no  chance  to  guess.  She  merely  glanced  at  the 
tall  and  slowly  ticking  clock,  and  said : 

"  I'll  go  at  once,  auntie.  I  did  not  know  it  was 
so  late.  Excuse  the  abruptness  of  my  leave- 
taking,  Mr.  Pegram,  and  let  me  say  good-bye, 
for  I  leave  for  Willoughby  to-morrow  morning." 

It  was  all  an  admirable  bit  of  acting  —  the 
more  admirable,  Baillie  thought,  for  the  reason 

83 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

that  the  scene  had  been  suddenly  extemporised 
and  not  rehearsed  —  for  he  was  satisfied  that 
Agatha  at  least  had  been  completely  surprised 
by  the  announcement  that  she  was  to  dine  at  The 
Forest  that  day. 

Unfortunately  the  acting  was  destined  to  be 
wasted,  for  almost  immediately  after  Agatha's 
departure  for  her  chamber,  a  carriage  drove  up, 
and  Baillie  gallantly  assisted  Miss  Blair  herself 
to  alight  from  it.  She  greeted  her  cousins  of 
The  Oaks  effusively  in  the  ceaseless  speech  with 
which  it  was  her  practice  to  meet  and  greet  her 
friends. 

"  Isn't  it  good  of  me,  Cousin  Sarah  and  Cousin 
Jane?  I  had  a  positive  headache  to-day,  but  I 
was  determined  to  drive  over  and  dine  with  you, 
so  as  to  bid  Agatha  good-bye.  Where  is  the  dear 
child  ?  You  see  we  heard  only  this  morning  that 
she  had  changed  her  plans  and  was  going  to  leave 
us  to-morrow.  So  I  just  had  to  come  and 
dine "  —  and  so  forth,  through  a  speech  that 
fortunately  gave  The  Oaks  ladies  time  a-plenty 
in  which  to  collect  their  wits  and  avoid  all  appear- 
ance of  discomfiture. 

"  You  are  always  so  good  and  thoughtful," 

84 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

said  Miss  Sarah,  as  soon  as  Miss  Blair  left  a 
little  hole  in  her  conversation.  "  We  knew  you'd 
want  to  see  Agatha  before  she  left,  and  we  were 
just  planning  to  send  her  to  you  for  dinner.  In 
fact  she's  gone  up  to  dress.  But  this  is  so  much 
better,  particularly  as  we  have  Mr.  Baillie  Pegram 
with  us,  too.  This  is  his  regular  day,  you  know, 
and  he  is  always  so  mindful  of  his  engagements. 
We  had  feared  we  should  miss  seeing  him  to-day, 
as  he  was  away  in  Richmond;  but  he  got  home 
in  time,  and  he  never  fails 'us  when  within  reach. 
He  has  an  admirable  habit  of  punctuality  which 
the  other  young  men  of  our  rather  lax  time  might 
emulate  with  advantage." 

Here  was  Baillie  Pegram's  opportunity,  but  he 
missed  it.  If  he  had  possessed  one-half  or  one- 
tenth  the  tact  that  Agatha  had  shown  fifteen  min- 
utes before,  he  would  have  protested  that,  much 
to  his  regret,  he  could  not  remain  to  dinner  that 
day,  as  he  had  a  guest  of  his  own  at  Warlock, 
and  had  ridden  over  only  to  make  his  apologies 
and  express  his  regret.  But  Baillie  Pegram,  not 
being  a  woman,  did  not  think  of  the  right  thing 
to  say  until  it  was  one  full  minute  too  late,  where- 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

fore,  of  course,  it  would  not  do  for  him  to  say 
it  at  all. 

What  a  pity  it  is  that  men  can't  be  women  — 
sometimes!  Just  for  lack  of  that  tact  which 
is  instinctive  in  a  woman,  the  master  of  Warlock 
was  doomed  to  dine  that  day  under  a  sense  of 
intrusion  on  his  part,  which  certainly  did  not 
contribute  to  his  enjoyment  of  the  dinner  or  the 
company.  But  he  had  only  himself  to  blame,  and, 
like  the  resolute  fellow  that  he  was,  he  deter- 
mined to  bear  the  consequences  of  his  blundering 
stupidity  with  the  best  grace  he  could.  He  pro- 
fessed the  keenest  delight  in  the  unexpected  pleas- 
ure of  having  Miss  Blair  for  his  fellow  guest, 
adding,  with  an  obeisance  to  The  Oaks  ladies, 
"  Though  of  course  one  needs  no  other  company 
than  that  of  our  hostesses  themselves,  to  make 
the  day  of  a  dinner  at  The  Oaks  altogether 
delightful." 

Obviously  the  young  man  was  improving  in 
tactfulness  under  the  stimulus  of  circumstances. 

When  dinner  was  served  half  an  hour  later,  he 
gave  his  arm  to  Miss  Sarah,  and  entered  the 
stately  but  gloomy  old  dining-room,  with  its  high- 
backed,  carved  mahogany  chairs,  its  stained-glass 

86 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

cathedral  windows,  and  its  general  atmosphere  of 
solemnity  and  depression,  with  such  grace  as  a 
resolute  spirit  could  command.  He  managed  to 
taste  the  dishes  as  they  were  served,  and  to  carve 
without  a  mishap  of  any  kind,  but  in  the  matter 
of  conversation  he  was  certainly  not  brilliant, 
though  he  had  the  approaching  war  for  his  theme. 

After  the  old  English  custom  which  survived  in 
Virginia,  the  wine  —  a  rich  old  Madeira  —  was 
not  served  until  the  dessert  was  removed.  Then 
it  came  on  with  the  cigars.  The  ladies  sipped  a 
single  glass  each,  and  rose,  whereupon  the  young 
man  gallantly  held  open  the  great  door,  bowing 
as  the  womankind  took  their  departure. 

When  they  had  gone,  there  being  no  gentleman 
present  except  himself,  young  Pegram  was  left 
alone  with  the  wine,  the  cigars,  a  single  wax 
candle  for  cigar-lighting  purposes,  —  and  Henry. 
Henry  was  the  perfectly  trained  butler  of  the 
establishment,  a  butler  taught  from  childhood, 
by  his  late  master,  to  comport  himself  always  with 
the  dignity  of  a  diplomat  who  has  dined.  He 
stood  bolt  upright  behind  the  young  man's  chair, 
eager  to  anticipate  every  want,  and  anticipating 
them  all  without  a  false  movement  or  any  sugges- 

87 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

tion  of  hurry.  Henry  had  presided  as  butler 
in  his  late  master's  establishment  when  that 
master  kept  "  open  house "  as  a  distinguished 
senator  in  Washington,  and  it  was  the  serving- 
man's  boast  that  he  "  knew  what  a  gentleman 
wants  and  when  he  wants  it." 

But  Henry's  very  propriety  became  irksome 
to  Baillie  Pegram  presently.  It  reminded  him 
of  his  own  lack  of  any  ease  except  a  forcibly 
assumed  one.  "  Henry  feels  himself  in  his  proper 
place,"  the  young  man  reflected.  "  I  do  not." 

It  was  not  the  young  man's  habit  to  take  more 
than  a  glass  or  two  of  wine  after  dinner,  and 
on  this  occasion  he  had  no  relish  even  for  that 
small  allowance.  Yet  he  sat  with  it  for  a  suffi- 
cient time  to  show  proper  respect  for  the  hospi- 
tality of  the  house.  He  held  his  glass  up  between 
him  and  the  stained-glass  windows,  and  went 
through  all  the  motions  of  watching  the  play 
of  colours  through  the  amber  liquid,  quite  as  if 
his  relish  for  it  had  been  that  of  a  confirmed 
bon  vivant.  Finally  he  lighted  a  fresh  cigar,  and 
said  to  Henry :  "  It  is  quite  warm.  I  think  I'll 
finish  my  cigar  out  among  the  shrubbery.  Please 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

say  to  the  ladies  that  I'll  join  them  within  half 
an  hour." 

He  was  not  destined,  however,  to  fulfil  this 
promise.  For,  as  he  passed  out  into  the  shrub- 
bery, he  encountered  Miss  Agatha  by  an  accident 
which  that  young  lady  had  in  all  probability 
arranged  with  the  utmost  care,  as  women  do 
sometimes.  She  very  much  wanted  speech  with 
Baillie. 

"  I  want  to  thank  you,  Mr.  Pegram,"  she  said, 
eagerly,  "  for  not  making  a  scene.  It  was  very 
hard  on  you  —  the  situation,  I  mean  —  and  you 
have  spared  me  at  every  point.  Perhaps  you  had 
better  take  your  leave  now  as  quickly  as  you  can." 

But  the  young  man's  courage  had  completely 
come  back  to  him,  with  something  of  the  dare- 
devil spirit  added  to  it :  as  the  soldier  beset,  some- 
times comes  to  relish  danger  for  its  own  sake, 
and  deliberately  invites  more  of  it,  so  Baillie 
Pegram,  knowing  perfectly  that  he  had  com- 
pletely outraged  the  proprieties,  as  The  Oaks 
ladies  interpreted  them,  was  minded  to  outrage 
them  still  further.  Having  braved  the  situation 
to  this  point,  he  was  determined  to  brave  it  out 


89 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

to  the  end  —  whatever  the  end  might  be.  So 
to  the  girl's  suggestion,  he  answered: 

"  But  the  day  is  not  over  yet,  and  the  piazzas 
of  The  Oaks  fortunately  include  one  with  a 
western  aspect.  Let  us  sit  there  and  enjoy  the 
sunset.  We'll  join  the  ladies  later." 

The  girl  consented,  willingly  enough.  She 
was  already  in  revolt,  for  one  thing,  and  she 
knew  that  her  aunts  would  not  venture  again  to 
censure  her  severely,  after  what  had  happened. 

"  But  you  must  not  misunderstand  me,  Mr. 
Pegram,"  she  said,  as  the  two  seated  themselves 
in  the  great  oaken  chairs  fabricated  on  the  planta- 
tion during  colonial  times.  "  I  have  declared  my 
independence  so  far  as  to  insist  upon  my  right 
to  treat  you  with  courtesy  upon  occasion.  But 
you  must  not  suppose  that  I  have  forgotten  the 
gulf  that  lies  between  us,  and  especially  you  must 
not  interpret  my  attitude  to  mean  that  I  am 
disloyal  to  the  memory  of  my  poor  father." 

"  I  quite  understand,"  he  answered,  medita- 
tively and  sadly.  "  You  and  I  are  privileged,  by 
your  good  pleasure,  to  treat  each  other  with 
formal  courtesy,  but  I  must  not  in  any  way  pre- 
sume upon  that  privilege  beyond  its  intention." 
90 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

The  girl  sat  silent,  looking  wistfully  out  into 
the  glow  that  had  followed  the  sunset.  Finally 
she  said: 

"  I  suppose  that  is  it.  It  is  a  hard  situation 
to  deal  with  —  for  me." 

"  And  for  me,"  the  youth  replied. 

"  Yes,  for  you,  too,  I  suppose.  But  neither  of 
us  is  responsible.  We  must  recognise  conditions 
and  do  the  best  we  can." 

"  I  quite  understand.  You  give  me  leave  here- 
after to  behave  like  a  gentleman  toward  you, 
whenever  circumstances  shall  happen  to  force  any 
sort  of  intercourse  upon  us;  but  beyond  that 
you  remind  me  that  there  is  war  between  your 
house  and  mine,  and  between  me  and  thee.  It  is 
not  a  treaty  of  peace  that  you  offer,  or  even  a  pro- 
tocol looking  to  peace;  it  is  only  an  amenity  of 
war,  like  a  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners, 
or  a  temporary  truce,  for  the  burial  of  the  dead 
who  have  fallen  between  the  lines." 

This  statement  of  the  case  did  not  at  all  satisfy 
the  bewildered  girl's  mind,  but  there  was  no 
opportunity  to  correct  it,  for  at  that  moment  a 
maid  came  with  a  formally  polite  message  to  the 
effect  that  if  Mr.  Pegram  and  Miss  Ronald  had 

91 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

quite  finished  their  conversation  in  the  porch,  the 
Misses  Ronald  and  Miss  Blair  were  waiting  to 
receive  them  in  the  library. 

"After  all,"  Agatha  thought,  afterward,  "I 
do  not  know  that  I  could  have  bettered  his  defini- 
tion of  the  situation.  But  it  isn't  one  that  I 
like." 

All  skies  seemed  serene  as  the  two  miscreants 
entered  the  library,  Baillie  making  all  that  was 
necessary  of  apology  by  saying: 

"  Pardon  us,  good  ladies,  I  pray  you.  We  have 
lingered  too  long  in  the  porch,  but  you  will  gra- 
ciously attribute  our  fault  to  the  unusual  beauty 
of  the  sunset.  Sunsets  mean  so  much,  you  know. 
They  suggest  the  end  of  pleasant  things  and  the 
coming  of  a  darkness  to  which  we  do  not  know 
the  dawn.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  sunset 
that  Miss  Ronald  and  I  have  been  witnessing  is 
typical.  Our  beautiful  Virginia  life  is  at  its 
sunset.  A  night-time  of  war  and  suffering  is 
approaching,  and  we  cannot  know  of  the  day  that 
must  follow." 

At  this  point  Miss  Blair  relieved  the  situation 
by  giving  the  conversation  a  thoroughly  practical 
and  commonplace  turn. 
92 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  Why,  Mr.  Pegram,"  she  exclaimed,  "  you 
surely  do  not  doubt  the  outcome  of  the  war? 
You  confidently  expect  the  triumph  of  our  right- 
eous cause?  " 

"  Well,  I  hope  for  it.  But  the  size  and  the 
number  of  the  guns  will  have  something  to  do 
with  the  result,  and  our  enemies  can  put  four 
or  five  men  and  four  or  five  guns  to  our  one  in 
the  field.  It  is  a  dark  night  that  must  follow  our 
sunset.  We  can  only  do  our  best,  and  leave  the 
result  to  God.  Ladies,  I  bid  you  good  night,  and 
good-bye;  for  I  fear  I  shall  see  none  of  you 
again  soon.  I  shall  be  off  soldiering  almost  at 
once." 


93 


VI 

NEXT  MORNING 

IF  Baillie  Pegram  imagined  that  by  his  parting 
words  he  had  silenced  the  batteries  of  The 
Oaks  ladies,  he  totally  misjudged  his  enemy. 
For  in  spite  of  his  intimation  of  intent  not  to 
dine  at  The  Oaks  again,  there  came  to  him  at 
breakfast  the  next  morning  a  little  note  in  which 
the  good  ladies  calmly  reasserted  their  privilege 
of  deciding  such   matters   for  themselves   quite 
irrespective  of  the  wishes  or  purposes  of  young 
persons  of  whatever  sex  or  degree. 

"  The  Misses  Ronald  present  their  respectful 
compliments  to  Mr.  Baillie  Pegram,"  the  note  ran, 
"  and  beg  to  say  that  in  view  of  the  terribly  dis- 
turbed condition  of  the  times,  it  is  their  purpose 
presently  to  close  The  Oaks  for  a  season,  so  far  at 
least  as  the  entertainment  of  guests  is  concerned. 
They  may  perhaps  go  upon  a  journey.  As  to  that, 

94 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

their  plans  are  as  yet  unformed,  but  at  any  rate  it 
is  their  purpose  not  to  entertain  again  for  the  pres- 
ent, except  by  special  invitation  to  their  nearest 
intimates.  They  feel  it  incumbent  upon  them 
to  give  timely  notice  of  this  alteration  in  the 
customs  of  their  house  to  those  valued  friends 
who,  like  Mr.  Pegram,  have  been  accustomed  to 
dine  at  The  Oaks  at  stated  intervals. 

"  With  sincere  good  wishes  for  Mr.  Pegram's 
safety  and  good  fortune  in  that  soldierly  career 
to  which  he  feels  himself  summoned  by  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  time,  and  in  full  confidence  that 
he  is  destined  to  win  for  himself  the  laurels  that 
befit  one  of  his  distinguished  ancestry,  The  Oaks 
ladies  remain, 

"  Most  respectfully, 

"  SARAH  RONALD, 
"  JANE  RONALD." 

Having  read  the  joint  nqte,  Baillie  passed  it 
to  his  friend  at  the  other  end  of  the  breakfast- 
table,  saying :  "  Read  that,  old  fellow,  and  see 
what  has  come  of  following  your  madcap  advice." 

Pollard  carefully  read  the  letter  through,  and 
then  asked: 

95 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"Well,  what  of  it?" 

"  Why,  don't  you  see,  by  going  to  The  Oaks 
yesterday  as  you  advised,  I've  managed  to  get 
myself  forbidden  the  house." 

"  Well,  what  of  that  ?  I  don't  understand  that 
you  have  any  passionate  desire  to  dine  with  the 
estimable  old  ladies  every  month,  and  I  think 
you  told  me  last  night,  when  I  was  trying  to  get 
a  nap,  that  Miss  Agatha  is  leaving  this  morning." 

"  Yes,  of  course.  But  can't  you  understand 
that  it's  a  disagreeable  and  humiliating  thing  thus 
to  be  forbidden  the  house,  just  as  if  I  were  guilty 
of  some  misconduct  —  " 

"  O,  yes,  I  understand  perfectly.  It  is  exceed- 
ingly inconvenient  to  find  yourself  at  odds  with  the 
elderly  female  relatives  of  a  young  gentlewoman 
to  whom  you  would  very  much  like  to  pay  your 
addresses.  But  in  this  case,  I  do  not  see  that  it 
complicates  matters  very  much,  as  you  told  me 
yourself  yesterday  that  the  case  is  hopeless  — 
that  there  is  already  an  impassable  barrier  between 
yourself  and  Miss  Agatha  Ronald,  so  what  differ- 
ence does  it  make  ?  When  you've  a  ten-rail  staked 
and  ridered  fence  in  front  of  you,  a  rail  more 
or  less  doesn't  signify  much.  I'll  tell  you,  Baillie, 

96 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

you  must  do  as  I've  done.  In  view  of  the  chances 
of  war,  which  are  apt  to  worry  one  who  thinks 
much  about  them,  I  have  decided  to  accept  and 
believe  the  fatalistic  philosophy,  which  teaches 
that  what  is  to  be  will  be,  even  if  it  never  hap- 
pens." 

Pegram  sat  silent  for  a  while  before  answering. 
Then  he  said : 

"  Be  serious  for  a  little  if  you  can,  Pollard, 
I  want  to  talk  with  you.  You  were  right  after 
all  in  what  you  said  to  me  yesterday,  though  at 
the  time  I  regarded  it  as  unutterable  nonsense.  It 
seems  absurd,  under  the  circumstances,  but  the 
fact  is  that  —  well,  that  Agatha  Ronald  has  some- 
how come  to  mean  more  to  me  than  any  other 
woman  ever  did  or  ever  will.  Perhaps  I  shouldn't 
have  found  out  the  fact  for  a  long  time  to  come, 
if  it  hadn't  been  for  what  you  said  to  me  yester- 
day. But  I've  found  it  out  now,  and  I  know  all 
that  it  means  to  me.  It  means  that  I've  made  a 
fool  of  myself,  and  I  must  set  to  work  to  repair 
the  mistake.  Fortunately,  the  way  is  open,  and 
that  is  what  I  want  to  say  to  you.  I'm  going 
to  leave  you  to-day.  I'm  going  to  Richmond  to 
volunteer  in  one  of  the  batteries  there  that  are 

97 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

already  organised,  armed,  and  equipped,  and 
nearly  ready  for  the  field.  They'll  be  the  first 
sent  to  the  front,  and  I  intend  to  put  myself  at 
the  front  just  as  speedily  as  I  can." 

"  But  why  not  do  better  than  that  for  your- 
self?" asked  Pollard. 

"  What  better  is  there  that  I  can  do?  " 

"  Why  not  raise  a  battery  of  your  own,  and 
command  it?  You  know  Governor  Letcher,  and 
you  have  influence  in  plenty.  You  can  have  a 
captain's  commission  for  the  asking." 

"  I  suppose  I  might.  But  I  am  strongly  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  there  are  altogether 
too  many  men  in  like  predicament  —  too  many 
men  whose  position  and  influence  entitle  them  to 
expect  commissions  while,  like  me,  they  know 
nothing  whatever  of  the  military  art.  We  need 
some  privates  in  this  war,  and  fortunately  a  good 
many  of  us  are  willing  to  serve  as  such.  I  am, 
for  one.  The  number  of  gentlemen  in  Virginia 
whose  position  is  as  good  as  my  own  is  quite 
great  enough  to  officer  any  army  in  Europe,  and 
our  ignorance  of  military  affairs  is  great  enough 
to  wreck  the  best  army  that  was  ever  organised. 
I'll  not  add  mine  to  the  list.  I'll  go  in  as  a  pri- 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

vate  soldier.  If  I  am  ever  fit  to  command,  it  will 
be  time  enough  then  for  me  to  ask  for  a  commis- 
sion. I'm  going  to  volunteer  in  the  ranks." 

"  So  am  I,"  answered  Pollard. 

"What?    You?    When?" 

"  Yes.     Me.     Yesterday." 

"  Well,  go  on.  Don't  be  provoking.  Tell  me 
all  about  it.  When  did  you  do  it,  and  how,  and 
why?  For  a  generally  agreeable  young  man,  I 
must  say,  Marshall,  you  can  make  of  yourself 
about  as  disagreeable  a  person  as  I  ever  encoun- 
tered. Come!  Tell  me!" 

Pollard  smiled  and  meditated,  as  if  planning 
the  order  of  his  utterance.  At  last  he  said : 

"  There  isn't  much  to  tell,  and  I  don't  know 
just  where  to  begin.  But  after  —  well,  after  you 
rode  away  to  The  Oaks  yesterday,  I  got  to  think- 
ing and  wondering  what  I  should  do  with  myself 
now  that  your  companionship  was  lost  to  me. 
There  is  nobody  about  for  me  to  fall  in  love 
with,  and  after  all,  there  is  a  limit  to  the  enter- 
tainment to  be  got  out  of  old  T.  Gordon  and 
his  Tacitus.  You  see,  girls  never  behave  properly 
toward  me.  There  isn't  one  of  them  in  ten 
counties  who  would  ever  think  of  breaking  her 

99 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

horse's  leg  in  a  bridge  just  in  time  to  let  me 
come  to  her  rescue.  Besides,  I  should  probably 
be  on  foot,  with  no  mare  to  lend  the  distressed 
damsel,  and,  altogether,  you  see  —  " 

"  Will  you  stop  your  nonsense,  or  will  you 
not  ?  "  asked  Baillie,  with  impatience.  "  Tell  me 
what  you  did." 

"  Well,  I  got  Sam  to  bring  me  the  least  ob- 
jectionable of  your  abominably  jolting  saddle- 
horses —  the  bay  with  three  white  feet  and  a 
blaze  on  the  face  —  and  I  managed  to  keep  a 
little  breath  in  my  body  while  riding  over  to  the 
Court-house.  It  was  my  purpose  to  go  to  Rich- 
mond, and  I  asked  the  old  ticket  agent  to  send 
me,  but  he  obstinately  refused.  He  said  there 
were  only  two  trains  a  day,  one  at  noon  and  one 
at  midnight.  I  remonstrated  with  him,  but  it 
was  of  no  use.  I  explained  to  him  that  the  raison 
d'etre  of  a  railroad  —  I  translated  the  French  to 
him  —  was  to  carry  people  to  whatever  place  they 
wished  to  go  to,  and  at  such  hours  as  might  suit 
their  convenience.  I  told  him  it  was  an  abom- 
inable outrage  that  with  a  railroad  lying  there 
unused,  he  would  not  send  a  gentleman  to  Rich- 
mond without  making  him  wait  for  eight  or  ten 
IOO 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

hours  for  the  convenience  of  people  whom  he 
knew  nothing  about.  He  looked  at  me  rather 
curiously  when  I  urged  that  consideration  upon 
him.  I  think  it  rather  staggered  him,  but  he 
persisted  in  his  obstinate  refusal  to  send  me  to 
Richmond  without  further  delay.  He  even  sug- 
gested  that  I  might  go  somewhere  else,  but  I 
interpreted  that  as  meaningless  profanity,  and 
gently  explained  to  him  that  I  did  not  wish  to 
go  to  the  place  he  had  mentioned.  Then  he  told 
me  he  had  no  train,  and  I  asked  him  why  he 
suffered  himself  to  have  no  train,  when  a  gentle- 
man wanted  one  and  was  willing  to  pay  for  it." 

"  Will  you  stop  your  nonsense,  and  tell  me  what 
happened?"  interrupted  Baillie. 

Pollard  smiled,  and  continued : 

"  Now,  that  question  of  yours  reassures  me 
as  to  the  sanity  of  the  station  agent.  It  is  closely 
similar  to  the  question  he  asked,  only,  by  reason 
of  his  lack  of  cultivation,  he  interrupted  the  even 
and  orderly  flow  of  his  English  with  many  ob- 
jurgative  and  even  violent  terms,  such  as  we  do 
not  employ  in  ordinary  converse,  but  such  as 
stablemen  and  innkeepers  seem  to  like  to  use. 

"  Despairing  of  my  efforts  to  secure  reasonable 

101 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

public  service  at  the  hands  of  the  railroad,  I 
looked  about  me,  and  presently  encountered  Cap- 
tain Skinner.  You  know  him,  of  course  —  lives 
at  the  Kennels,  or  some  such  place  —  keeps  a  lot 
of  dogs,  and  drinks  a  good  deal  more  whiskey 
than  would  be  good  for  most  men.  But  he  is 
a  West  Pointer,  you  know,  and  served  for  a 
considerable  time  in  the  Indian  wars.  He  was 
at  Chapultepec,  too,  I  think.  At  any  rate,  he 
mentioned  the  fact  in  connection  with  his  missing 
arm.  He  told  me  he  was  going  to  raise  a  bat- 
tery in  the  purlieus  of  Richmond.  He  said  he 
didn't  want  a  company  of  young  bloods,  but  one 
of  soldiers.  He  proposes  to  enlist  wharf-rats 
down  at  Rockett's,  and  ruffians,  and  especially 
jailbirds.  '  There  are  more  than  a  hundred  as 
good  men  as  ever  smelt  gunpowder  or  stopped 
a  bullet  in  its  career,'  he  said,  '  now  languishing 
in  the  Richmond  jails  and  the  Virginia  State 
Penitentiary.  Governor  Letcher  promises  me  that 
he  will  pardon  all  of  them  who  choose  to  enlist 
with  me,  and  I'm  going  to  look  them  over.  Those 
that  are  fit  to  make  soldiers  of,  I'll  enlist,  and 
after  a  week  or  two  of  drilling  I'll  have  a  battery 
ready  for  the  field/ 
IO2 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  His  idea  pleased  me,  so  I  told  him  to  put  me 
down  as  the  first  man  on  his  list.  He  objected  at 
first.  You  see,  I've  had  no  experience  as  a  ruffian, 
and  I  never  served  a  term  in  jail  in  my  life,  but 
I  convinced  him  that  I  would  make  a  good  cannon- 
ier,  and  he  enrolled  me.  I  am  to  report  to  him  at 
Rockett's  by  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

To  Baillie's  remonstrances  and  pleadings  that 
his  friend  should  choose  a  company  of  gentlemen 
in  which  to  serve,  Marshall  turned  a  deaf  ear. 

"  When  I  become  a  soldier,"  he  said,  "  and  put 
myself  under  another  man's  command,  I  want 
that  other  man  to  be  one  who  knows  something 
about  the  business.  Captain  Skinner  knows  what 
to  do  with  a  gun  and  a  gunner,  and  I've  a  pretty 
well-defined  notion  that  most  of  our  coming  cap- 
tains have  all  that  yet  to  learn,  and  besides  —  well, 
I've  given  you  reasons  enough." 

"  Besides  what,  Marshall  ?  What  were  you 
going  to  say?  " 

"  O,  nothing  that  you  would  understand  or 
sympathise  with.  It's  only  that  somehow  I  don't 
want  to  be  in  a  company  of  gentlemen  turned 
soldiers,  where  I  should  be  sure  to  meet  our  kind 
of  people  on  terms  of  social  equality  now  and 

103 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

then.  As  a  common  soldier,  I  should  find  it 
rather  embarrassing  at  a  military  ball  to  have 
a  lady  put  me  on  her  dancing-list  while  scornfully 
refusing  a  like  favour  perhaps  to  the  officer  who 
must  assign  me  to  guard-duty  next  morning." 

In  thus  answering,  Marshall  Pollard  equivo- 
cated somewhat.  He  made  no  mention  of  the 
little  jessamine  and  honeysuckle  incident,  but 
perhaps  there  was  something  behind  that  which 
helped  to  determine  his  course  in  choosing  Cap- 
tain Skinner's  company  for  his  own,  thus  placing 
himself  among  men  wholly  without  the  pale  of 
that  society  in  which  sprigs  of  jessamine  are 
given  and  cherished,  and  now  and  then  thrown 
out  of  the  window.  At  any  rate,  the  young  man 
seemed  disposed  to  change  the  course  of  the  con- 
versation. 

"  Now,  Baillie,"  he  said,  "  you've  catechised 
me  quite  enough  for  one  morning.  Tell  me  about 
yourself.  Why  are  you  going  off  to  Richmond 
to  enlist  in  one  of  the  batteries  there,  instead  of 
joining  your  neighbours  and  friends  here  in  or- 
ganising one  or  other  of  the  companies  they  are 
forming?  " 

"  For  the  simple  reason  that  I  want  to  be  in 
104 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

the  middle  of  this  mix  as  soon  as  possible.  Those 
Richmond  batteries  are  already  fit  to  take  the 
field,  and  they'll  be  hurling  shells  at  the  enemy 
and  dodging  shells  on  their  own  account  before 
these  companies  here  learn  which  way  a  ser- 
geant's chevrons  should  point.  I  want  to  get 
to  the  front  among  the  first,  that's  all." 

Sending  for  Sam,  he  bade  that  worthy  pack  a 
small  saddle  valise  for  him  with  a  few  belongings, 
and  when,  an  hour  later,  the  two  friends  were 
ready  for  their  departure,  Sam  presented  himself, 
clad  in  his  best,  and  carrying  a  multitudinous  col- 
lection of  skillets,  kettles,  and  frying-pans,  with 
other  and  less  soldierly  belongings.  When  asked 
by  his  master,  "  What  does  this  mean  ?  "  Sam 
answered,  in  seeming  astonishment  at  the  ques- 
tion: 

"  Why,  Mas'  Baillie,  you'se  a-gwine  to  de  wah, 
an'  of  co'se  Sam's  a-gwine  along  to  take  k'yar  o' 
you." 

"  Of  course  Sam  is  going  to  do  no  such  thing," 
answered  the  young  man.  "  Go  and  put  away 
your  pots  and  pans." 

"  But,  Mas'  Baillie."  remonstrated  the  negro 
boy,  in  a  nearly  tearful  voice,  "  who's  a-gwine 

105 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

to  take  k'yar  o'  you  ef  Sam  ain't  thar?  Whose 
a-gwine  to  clean  yer  boots,  an'  bresh  yer  clo'se, 
an'  cook  yer  victuals,  an'  all  that?  " 

The  master  was  touched  by  the  boy's  devotion, 
though  he  justly  suspected  that  a  yearning  for 
adventure  had  quite  as  much  to  do  with  Sam's 
wish  to  "  go  to  de  wah,"  as  his  desire  to  be  of 
service  to  a  kindly  master. 

"  But,  Sam,"  he  said,  "  a  common  soldier 
doesn't  carry  his  personal  servant  with  him.  If 
we  did  that,  there  wouldn't  be  enough  —  " 

"A  common  soldier!"  Sam  broke  in,  exer- 
cising that  privilege  of  interrupting  his  master's 
speech  which  the  personal  servants  of  Virginians 
always  claimed  for  their  own.  "  A  common  sol- 
dier! Who  says  Mas'  Baillie'll  be  a  common 
soldier?  De  mastah  of  Warlock  ain't  a  common 
nuffin'.  He's  a  Pegram,  he  is,  an'  de  Pegrams 
ain't  never  been  common  yit,  an'  dey  ain't 
a-gwine  to  be." 

"  But,  Sam,"  argued  his  master,  "  you  see 
we're  all  going  to  war.  We  can't  carry  our 
servants  with  us  any  more  than  we  can  carry 
our  feather  beds  or  our  foot-tubs.  We  must  do 
things  for  ourselves,  now." 
1 06 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

*'  But  who's  a-gwine  to  cook  your  victuals, 
Mas'  Baillie?" 

"  I  reckon  I'll  have  to  do  that  for  myself," 
answered  the  master. 

"What?  You?  Mas' Baillie  Peg-ram  a-gittin' 
down  on  his  knees  in  de  mud  an'  a-smuttin'  up  of 
his  han's  an'  his  face,  an'  a-wrastlin'  with  pots 
an'  kittles?  Well,  I'd  jes'  like  to  see  you  a-doin' 
of  that!" 

Baillie  was  disposed  to  amuse  himself  with  the 
boy ;  so  he  said : 

"  But  your  mammy  says  you  don't  know  how 
to  cook,  Sami  and  that  you  don't  seem  to  know 
how  to  learn." 

This  staggered  Sam  for  an  instant,  but  he 
promptly  rose  to  the  emergency. 

"  I  kin  'splain  all  dat,  Mas'  Baillie.  You  see, 
I'se  done  been  a-foolin'  o'  mammy.  Mammy, 
she's  de  head  cook  at  Warlock;  she's  a-gittin' 
old,  an'  de  rheumatiz  an'  de  laziness  is  a-gittin' 
into  her  bones.  So  she's  done  tried  to  make  Sam 
take  things  offen  her  shoulders.  But  I'se  done 
see  de  situation.  I'se  watched  mammy  so  long 
dat  I  kin  cook  anything  from  a  Brunswick  stew 
to  an  omelette  sufferin',  jes'  as  good  as  mammy 

107 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

kin.  But  it  'ud  never  'a'  done  to  let  her  know 
that,  else  she'd  'a'  shouldered  the  whole  thing 
onter  Sam.  So  when  she  done  set  me  to  watch 
somethin'  she's  a-cookin'  while  she's  busy  with 
somethin'  else,  I  jes'  had  to  let  it  spile  some  way, 
in  self-defence.  Of  co'se,  I  had  to  run  out'n  de 
kitchen  after  that,  a-dodgin'  o'  de  pots  an'  kittles 
mammy  throwed  at  my  head  —  an'  sometimes  I 
didn't  dodge  quick  enough,  either  —  but  de  result 
was  de  same.  Mammy  was  sure  I  couldn't  cook, 
an'  dat's  what  she  done  tole  you,  Mas'  Baillie. 
But  I  kin  cook,  sho'.  An'  please,  Mas'  Baillie, 
you'll  let  me  go  'long  wid  you  ?  " 

The  time  was  growing  short  now,  and  Baillie 
sent  the  boy  away,  saying : 

"  If  I  ever  get  to  be  an  officer,  Sam,  and  am 
allowed  a  servant,  I'll  send  for  you.  But  you'd 
better  learn  all  you  can  about  cooking  while  we're 
waiting  for  that." 

Sam  was  disconsolate.  He  went  to  the  de- 
tached kitchen  building  —  for  no  Virginian  ever 
suffered  cooking  to  be  carried  on  within  fifty  feet 
of  his  dwelling  —  and  sat  down  and  buried  his 
face  in  his  hands  and  rocked  himself  backward 
and  forward,  moaning  dismally. 
1 08 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  I'd  jes'  like  to  know,"  he  muttered  to  the 
pickaninnies,  standing  by  in  their  simple  costume 
of  long  shirts  and  nothing  else,  "  I'd  jes'  like 
to  know  what's  a-gwine  to  become  o'  dis  here 

x 

Warlock  plantation  an'  dese  here  niggas,  now 
dat  Mas'  Baillie's  done  gone  off  to  git  hisself 
killed  in  de  wah.  De  chinch-bug  is  a-gwine  to 
eat  de  wheat  dis  summer  sho'.  De  watermillions 
is  a-gwine  to  run  all  to  vines.  De  'bacca  worms 
an'  de  grasshoppas  is  a-gwine  to  chew  up  all 
de  terbacca  befo'  men  gits  a  chawnce  at  it. 
De  crows  is  a-gwine  to  pull  up  all  de  cawn  —  an' 
dey  might  as  well,  too,  fer  ef  dey  didn't,  it  'ud 
wither  in  de  rows.  Don't  yer  understan',  you 
stupid  little  niggas,  you'se  a-gwine  to  stawve 
to  death,  you  is,  an'  you  better  believe  it.  Mas' 
Baillie's  done  gone  to  git  hisself  killed,  I  tells 
you,  an'  you'se  got  a  mighty  short  time  till  yer 
stomicks  gits  empty  an'  shet  up  an'  crampy  like. 
You'se  a-gwine  to  stawve  to  death,  sho',  an'  it'll 
hurt  wus'n  as  ef  you'd  a-swallered  a  quart  o' 
black  cherries  'thout  swallerin'  none  o'  de  seeds 
fer  safety." 

By  this  time  all  the  young  negroes  were  wail- 
ing bitterly,  and  they  would  not  be  comforted 

109 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

until  Sam's  mammy  set  out  a  kettle  of  pot-liquor, 
and  gave  them  pones  of  ash-cake  to  crumble  into 
it.  After  that,  Sam's  prophecies  of  evil  departed 
from  their  inconstant  minds.  But  Sam  did  not 
recover  so  quickly.  For  days  afterward  he 
moped  in  melancholy,  occasionally  stretching  his 
big  eyes  to  their  utmost  while  he  solemnly  de- 
livered some  dismal  prophecy  of  evil  to  come. 


IIO 


VII 

A    FAREWELL   AT  THE   GATE 

WHEN  the  two  friends  reached  the  outer 
gates  of  Warlock  plantation  on  their 
way  to  the  Court-house,  Marshall,  to 
whose  queer  ways  his  friend  was  thoroughly  well 
used,  called  a  halt. 

"  Let  us  dismount,"  he  said,  "  and  consider 
what  we  are  doing." 

When  they  had  seated  themselves  upon  the 
carpet  of  pine-needles,  the  meditative  youth  re- 
sumed : 

"  Does  it  occur  to  you,  Baillie,"  he  asked,  "  that 
when  you  and  I  pass  through  yonder  gate,  we 
shall  leave  behind  us  for  ever  the  most  enjoyable 
life  that  it  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  human  beings 
to  lead?  Do  you  realise  that  we  may  never 
either  of  us  come  back  through  that  gate  again, 
and  that  if  we  do,  it  will  only  be  to  find  all  things 
changed  ?  We  are  at  the  end  of  a  chapter.  The 
next  chapter  will  be  by  no  means  like  unto  it."- 

Ill 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  I  confess  I  don't  quite  understand,"  answered 
the  less  meditative  one. 

"  Well,  this  easy-going,  delightful  Virginian 
life  of  ours  has  no  counterpart  anywhere  on  this 
continent  or  elsewhere  in  the  world,  and  we  have 
decided  to  put  an  end  to  it.  For  this  war  is  going 
to  be  a  very  serious  thing  to  us  Virginians.  Vir- 
ginia is  destined  to  be  the  battle-field.  Greater 
armies  than  have  ever  before  been  dreamed  of 
on  this  continent  are  going  to  trample  over  her 
fields,  and  meet  in  dreadful  conflict  on  the  mar- 
gins of  her  watercourses.  Her  homes  are  going 
to  be  desolated,  her  fields  laid  waste,  her  sub- 
stance utterly  exhausted,  and  her  people  reduced 
to  poverty  in  a  cause  that  is  not  her  own,  and  in 
behalf  of  which  she  unselfishly  risks  all  for  the 
sake  of  an  abstraction,  and  in  defence  of  a  right 
on  the  part  of  other  States  which  Virginia  her- 
self had  seen  no  occasion  to  assert  in  her  own 
defence.  Whatever  else  happens  in  this  war,  all 
that  is  characteristic  in  Virginian  life,  all  that 
is  peculiar  to  it,  all  that  lends  loveliness  to  it, 
must  be  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  duty. 

"  I  don't  at  all  know  how  the  change  is  to  come 
about,  or  what  new  things  are  destined  to  replace 
112 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

the  old;  but  I  see  clearly  that  the  old  must  give 
way  to  something  new.  Perhaps,  after  all,  that 
is  best.  Ours  has  been  a  beautiful  life,  and  a 
peculiarly  picturesque  one,  but  it  is  not  in  tune 
with  this  modern  industrial  world.  It  has  its 
roots  in  the  past,  and  the  past  cannot  endure. 
We  have  thus  far  been  able  to  go  on  living  in 
an  ideal  world,  but  the  real  world  has  been  more 
and  more  asserting  itself,  and  even  if  no  war 
were  coming  on  to  upset  things,  things  must 
be  upset.  Railroads  and  telegraphs  have  come 
to  us  rather  in  spite  of  our  will  than  by 
reason  of  it.  We  have  realised  their  con- 
venience in  a  fashion,  but  they  are  still  foreign 
and  antagonistic  to  our  ideas.  The  older  gentle- 
men among  us  still  prefer  to  make  long  journeys 
Q*»  horseback  rather  than  go  by  rail,  while  very 
many  of  them  insist  resolutely  upon  sending  their 
womankind  always  in  private  carriages,  even 
when  they  go  long  distances  to  the  mountains  for 
the  summer. 

"  We  are  living  in  the  past  and  righting  off 
the  present,  but  the  present  will  successfully  assert 
itself  in  the  end.  You  have  yourself  rejected  all 
the  overtures  of  the  speculators  who  have  wanted 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

to  open  coal  mines  on  Warlock  plantation,  but 
the  time  will  come  when  you'll  be  glad  to  be  made 
richer  than  any  Pegram  ever  dreamed  of  being 
by  the  sinking  of  mine  shafts  among  your  lawn 
trees. 

"  If  you  are  lucky  enough  to  survive  this  war, 
you'll  see  a  new  labour  system  established,  and 
learn  to  regard  the  men  who  work  for  you,  not 
as  your  dependents,  for  whom  you  are  responsible, 
and  for  whose  welfare  you  feel  a  sympathetic 
concern,  but  as  so  many  '  employees,'  to  be  dealt 
with  through  a  trades  union,  and  kept  down  to 
the  lowest  scale  of  wages  consistent  with  their 
living  and  working. 

"  I  am  not  advocating  the  new,  or  condemning 
the  old.  I  am  only  pointing  out  the  fact  that 
the  new  is  surely  destined  to  triumph  over  the 
old,  and  replace  it. 

"  The  negroes  in  Virginia  are  beyond  question 
the  best  paid,  the  best  fed,  the  best  housed,  and 
altogether  the  best  cared  for  labouring  popula- 
tion on  earth.  They  are  secure  in  childhood  and 
in  old  age  and  in  illness,  as  no  other  labouring 
people  on  earth  are.  They  are  happy,  and  in 
important  ways  they  are  even  freer  than  any 
114 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

i 

other  labouring  class  ever  was.  But  they  are 
slaves,  and  modern  thought  insists  that  they  would 
be  better  off  as  free  men,  even  though  freedom 
should  bring  to  them  a  loss  of  happiness  and  a 
loss  of  that  well-nigh  limitless  liberty  which  they 
enjoy  as  bondsmen,  under  care  of  kindly  masters. 

"  Mind  you,  Baillie,  I  am  not  arguing  for  or 
against  the  claims  of  modern  thought.  I  am  only 
pointing  out  the  fact  that  it  is  resistless,  and  will 
have  its  way.  All  history  teaches,  that.  Even 
chivalry,  armed  as  it  was  from  head  to  heel, 
and  limitlessly  courageous  as  it  was,  could  not 
hold  its  own  against  commercialism,  when  com- 
mercialism became  dominant  as  the  thought  that 
represented  the  aspirations  of  men.  Not  even 
prejudice  or  sentiment  can  prevail  against  prog- 
ress. 

"  John  Ruskin  is  even  now  protesting  in  the 
name  of  aesthetics  against  the  scarring  of  England 
with  railroad  embankments,  and  the  pollution  of 
England's  air  with  the  vomitings  of  unsightly  fac- 
tory chimneys;  but  neither  the  extension  of  the 
British  railway  system  nor  the  multiplication  of 
British  factories  halts  because  of  his  protests. 

"  Henry  Clay  was  never  so  eloquent  as  when 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

pleading  against  protective  tariffs  as  something 
that  threatened  this  country  with  a  system  like 
that  of  Manchester,  in  which  men  were  divided 
into  mill  owners  and  mill  operatives,  with  an- 
tagonistic interests;  yet  Henry  Clay  was  forced 
by  the  conditions  of  his  time  to  become  the  apostle 
of  industrial  protection  by  tariff  legislation. 

"  My  thesis  is  that  no  man  and  no  people  can 
for  long  stand  in  the  way  of  what  the  Ger- 
mans call  the  Zeitgeist  —  the  spirit  of  the  age. 
Neither,  I  think,  can  any  people  stand  apart  from 
that  spirit  and  let  it  pass  them  by.  That  is  what 
we  Virginians  have  been  trying  to  do.  The  time 
has  come  when  we  are  going  out  to  fight  the 
seitgeist,  and  the  Zeitgeist  is  going  to  conquer  us." 

"  You  expect  the  South  to  fail  in  the  war, 
then  ?  "  asked  Baillie. 

"  I  don't  know.  We  may  fail  or  we  may  win. 
But  in  either  case  the  old  regime  in  the  Old 
Dominion  will  be  at  an  end  when  the  war  is  over. 
Virginia  will  become  a  modern  State,  whatever 
else  happens,  and  the  old  life  in  which  you  and 
I  were  brought  up  will  become  a  thing  of  the 
past,  a  matter  of  history,  the  memory  of  which 

116 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

the  novelists  may  love  to  recall,  but  the  conditions 
of  which  can  never  again  be  established. 

"  Fortunately,  none  of  these  things  needs  trou- 
ble us.  They  make  no  difference  whatever  in  our 
personal  duty.  Virginia  has  proclaimed  her  with- 
drawal from  the  Union,  under  the  declared  pur- 
pose of  the  Union  to  make  war  upon  her  for 
doing  so.  It  is  for  us  to  fight  in  Virginia's 
cause  as  manfully  as  we  can,  leaving  God,  or  the 
Fates,  or  whatever  else  it  is  that  presides  over 
human  affairs,  to  take  care  of  the  result. 

"  Come !  The  time  is  passing ;  we  must  hurry 
in  order  to  catch  that  train  which  represents  the 
modern  progress  that  is  destined  to  ride  over  us 
and  crush  us.  Good-bye,  old  Virginia  life!  God 
bless  you  for  a  good  old  life!  May  we  live  as 
worthily  in  the  new,  if  we  survive  to  see  the 
new!" 


117 


VIII 

A   RED  FEATHER 

THE  sun  shone  with  the  fervent  heat  of 
noonday  in  mid- July,  as  the  long  line  of 
cannon  and  caissons  came  lumbering  down 
the  incline  of  the  roadway  that  leads  from  the 
mountainside  into  the  'ittle  railway  village.  The 
breath  of  the  guns  was  still  offensively  sulphurous, 
for  there  had  been  no  time  in  which  to  cleanse  them 
since  their  work  of  yesterday.  The  officers  and 
non-commissioned  officers  on  their  horses,  and  the 
cannoniers  who  rode  upon  the  ammunition-chests, 
were  powder-grimed  and  dusty  —  for  there  had 
been  no  opportunity  on  this  hurried  march  for 
those  ablutions  that  all  soldiers  so  eagerly  delight 
in. 

There  were  no  shouted  commands  given,  for 
this  battery  had  been  three  times  under  fire,  and 
one  of  the  first  things  an  officer  learns  in  real 
war  is  not  to  shout  his  orders  except  when  the 

118 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

din  of  battle  renders  shouting  necessary.  Three 
months  ago  on  parade  the  captain  of  this  battery 
would  have  bellowed,  "Forward  into  battery!" 
by  way  of  impressing  his  importance  upon  the 
lookers-on.  Now  that  he  had  learned  to  be  in 
earnest,  he  merely  turned  to  his  bugler,  and  said, 
as  if  in  a  parlour,  "  Forward  into  battery,  then 
halt." 

A  little  musical  snatch  on  the  bugle  did  the 
rest,  and  with  the  precision  of  a  piece  of  mechan- 
ism, the  guns  were  moved  into  place,  each  with  its 
caissons  at  a  fixed  distance  in  the  rear,  and  the 
command,  "  At  ease,"  was  followed  by  a  stable- 
call,  in  obedience  to  which  the  drivers  set  to  work 
to  feed  and  groom  their  horses.  For  while  men 
may  be  allowed  to  go  grimed  and  dirty  on  cam- 
paign, the  horses  at  least  must  be  curried  and 
rubbed  and  sponged  into  perfect  health  and  com- 
fort whenever  there  is  opportunity. 

Here  at  the  little  railway  station  were  assem- 
bled all  the  womankind  from  a  dozen  miles  round 
about.  These  had  come  to  look  upon  the  Army 
of  the  Shenandoah,  with  which  Johnston,  after 
several  days  of  skirmishing  in  the  valley  with  the 
Federals  under  Patterson,  was  hurrying  onward 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

to  Manassas  to  join  Beauregard  there,   in  the 
battle  which  was  so  obviously  at  hand. 

The  women  of  every  degree  had  come,  not 
merely  to  see  the  spectacle  of  war,  but  to  cheer  the 
soldiers  with  smiles  and  words  of  encouragement, 
and  still  more  to  minister  in  what  ways  they 
could  to  their  needs.  The  maids  and  matrons 
thus  assembled  were  gaily  clad,  for  war  had  not 
yet  robbed  them  of  the  wherewithal  to  deck 
themselves  as  gaily  as  the  lilies  do.  They  were 
full  of  high  confidence  and  ardent  hope,  for  war 
had  not  yet  brought  to  them,  and  for  many 
moons  to  come  was  not  destined  to  bring  to 
them,  the  realisation  that  defeat  and  disaster  are 
sometimes  a  part  of  the  bravest  soldiers'  fortune. 
These  women  believed  absolutely  and  unques- 
tioningly  in  the  righteousness  of  the  Southern 
cause,  and  they  had  not  yet  read  the  history  of. 
Poland,  and  La  Vendee,  and  the  Huguenots  with 
discretion  enough  to  doubt  that  victory  always 
in  the  end  crowns  the  struggles  of  those  who 
stand  for  the  right. 

How  much  of  disappointment  and   suffering 
this   curiously  perverse  reading  of  history  has 
wrought,  to  be  sure!     And  how  confidently,  in 
1 2O 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

every  case,  the  men  and  women  on  either  side 
of  a  war  commend  their  cause  to"  Heaven,  in  full 
confidence  that  God,  in  his  justice,  cannot  fail 
to  give  victory  to  the  right,  and  cannot  fail  to 
understand  that  they  are  right  and  their  enemies 
hopelessly  wrong.  Probably  every  educated 
woman  among  those  who  were  assembled  at  the 
little  village  on  that  twentieth  day  of  July,  1861, 
had  read  Motley's  histories;  every  one  of  them 
knew  the  story  of  Poland  and  of  Ireland  and  of 
La  Vendee  and  the  Camisards;  but  they  still 
believed  that  God  and  not  the  guns  decides  the 
outcome  of  battles. 

In  one  article  of  their  faith  at  least  they  were 
absolutely  right.  They  believed  in  the  courage, 
the  devotion,  the  unflinching  prowess  of  the  men 
who  had  enlisted  to  fight  for  their  cause.  They 
had  come  now,  at  the  approach  of  a  first  great 
battle,  to  bid  these  men  Godspeed.  Four  years 
later,  when  war  had  well-nigh  worn  out  the 
gallant  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  and  when 
the  very  hope  of  ultimate  victory,  over  enormously 
superior  numbers  and  against  incalculably  superior 
resources,  was  scarcely  more  than  an  impulse  of 
faith-inspired  insanity,  these  women  of  the  South 

121 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

were  still  present  and  helpful  wherever  their  pres- 
ence could  cheer,  and  wherever  their  help  was 
needed. 

To-day,  they  looked  to  the  morrow  for  a 
victory  that  should  make  an  end  of  the  war. 
The  victory  came  with  a  startling  completeness 
wholly  unmatched  in  all  the  history  of  battles. 
But  the  end  did  not  come,  and  the  war  wore  itself 
out,  through  four  long  years  of  brilliant  achieve- 
ment, alternated  with  terrible  disaster.  At  Peters- 
burg these  women  did  not  look  to  the  morrow 
at  all,  but  their  courage  was  the  sa.ne,  their 
cheer  the  same,  their  devotion  the  same.  It  was 
still  their  chosen  task  to  encourage  the  little  rem- 
nant of  an  army  which  still  held  the  defensive 
works  with  a  line  stretched  out  to  attenuation. 
To  the  very  end  —  and  even  after  the  end  — 
these  brave  women  faltered  not  nor  failed. 

When  the  war  began,  the  women  of  the  South 
made  a  gala-day  of  every  day  when  soldiers  were 
in  sight.  As  the  war  neared  its  calamitous  end, 
all  days  were  to  them  days  of  mourning  and  of 
always  willing  self-sacrifice. 

On  that  twentieth  day  of  July,  1861,  the  women 
gathered  together  were  full  of  high  hope  and 
122 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

confidence.  Some  were  perched  upon  goods 
boxes,  arranged  to  serve  as  seats.  Some  were 
tripping  about  on  foot,  gliding  hither  and  thither 
in  gladness,  as  girls  do  in  a  dance,  simply  be- 
cause their  nerves  were  tuned  to  a  high  pitch, 
and  their  sympathetic  feet  refused  to  be  still. 
But  for  the  most  part  they  sat  in  their  carriages, 
with  the  tops  thrown  back  in  defiance  of  the 
fervour  of  the  sun.  Defiance  was  in  the  air, 
indeed,  and  the  troops  on  their  way  to  the  battle- 
field were  not  more  resolute  in  their  determina- 
tion to  do  and  to  dare,  than  were  the  dames  and 
damsels  there  gathered  together  in  their  purpose 
to  disregard  sunshine  and  circumstance,  while 
bestowing  their  smiles  upon  these  men,  their 
heroes. 

After  the  fashion  of  the  time  among  volunteers 
who  were  presently  to  become  war-worn  into 
veterans,  but  who  were  never  to  be  reduced  to 
the  condition  of  hireling  regulars,  the  men  were 
free,  as  soon  as  a  halt  was  called,  to  move  about 
among  the  feminine  throng,  greeting  their  ac- 
quaintances when  they  had  any,  and  being  cheerily 
greeted  by  strangers,  in  utter  disregard  of  those 
conventions  with  which  womanhood  elsewhere 

123 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

than  in  Virginia  surrounds  itself.  There  woman- 
hood had  always  felt  itself  free,  because  it  had 
always  felt  itself  under  the  protection  of  all  there 
was  of  manhood  in  the  land.  No  woman  in  that 
time  and  country  was  ever  in  danger  of  affront, 
for  the  reason  that  no  man  dared  affront  her,  lest 
he  encounter  vengeance,  swift,  sure,  and  relent- 
less, at  the  hands  of  the  first  other  man  who 
might  hear  of  the  circumstance.  No  Virginian 
girl  of  that  time  had  her  mind  directed  to  evil 
things  by  the  suggestion  of  chaperonage ;  and  no 
Virginia  gentleman  was  subjected  to  insulting  im- 
putation by  the  refusal  of  a  woman's  guardians  to 
entrust  her  protection  against  himself,  as  against 
all  others,  to  his  chivalry.  So  far  was  the  point 
of  honour  pressed  in  such  matters,  that  no  man 
was  free  even  to  make  the  most  deferential  pro- 
posal of  marriage  to  any  woman  while  she  was 
actually  or  technically  under  his  charge  and  pro- 
tection. To  do  that,  it  was  held,  was  to  place 
the  woman  in  an  embarrassing  position,  to  subject 
her  to  the  necessity  of  accepting  the  offer  on  the 
one  hand,  or  of  declining  it  while  yet  under  obli- 
gation to  accept  escort  and  protection  at  the  hands 
of  the  man  making  it. 
124 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

Under  this  rigid  code  of  social  intercourse, 
which  granted  perfect  freedom  to  all  women,  and 
exacted  scrupulous  respect  for  such  freedom  at 
the  hands  of  all  men,  the  intercourse  between 
gentlemen  volunteers  and  the  young  women  who 
had  come  to  visit  them  in  camp  was  even  less 
restrained  than  that  of  a  drawing-room,  in  which 
all  are  guests  of  a  common  host,  and  all  are 
guaranteed,  as  it  were,  by  that  host's  sponsor- 
ship of  invitation. 

In  all  their  dealings  with  the  volunteers,  the 
women  of  Virginia  brought  common  sense  to 
bear  in  a  positively  astonishing  degree,  reinforc- 
ing it  with  abounding  good-will  and  perfect  con- 
fidence in  the  manhood  of  men  as  their  sufficient 
shield  against  misinterpretation.  And  they  were 
entirely  right  in  this.  For  "  battle,  murder,  and 
sudden  death,"  would  very  certainly  have  been 
the  part  of  any  man  in  those  ranks  who  should 
have  failed  in  due  respect  to  this  generosity  of 
mind  on  the  part  of  womanhood.  The  dignity 
of  womanhood  was  never  so  safe  as  when  women 
thus  confidently  left  its  guardianship  to  the  in- 
stinctive chivalry  of  men. 

For  a  time  after  the  halt,  Baillie  Pegram  was 

125 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

too  busy  to  inquire  whether  or  not  any  friends 
of  his  own  were  among  the  throng.  For  some- 
thing had  happened  to  Baillie  Pegram  over  there 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah  two  or  three 
days  before.  The  gun  to  whose  detachment  he 
belonged  as  a  cannonier  had  been  detached  and 
sent  to  an  exposed  position  on  the  Martinsburg 
road.  The  sergeant  in  command  of  it  had  been 
killed  by  a  bullet,  and  the  two  corporals  —  the 
gunner  and  the  chief  of  caisson  —  had  been  car- 
ried to  the  rear  on  litters,  with  bullets  in  their 
bodies.  There  was  absolutely  nobody  in  com- 
mand of  the  gun,  but  Baillie  Pegram  was  serving 
as  number  one  at  the  piece  —  that  is  to  say,  as 
the  cannonier  handling  the  sponge  and  rammer. 
Seeing  the  badly  weakened  gun-crew  disposed  to 
falter  for  lack  of  anybody  to  command  them,  and 
seeing,  too,  the  necessity  of  continuing  the  fire, 
Baillie  assumed  an  authority  which  did  not  be- 
long to  him  in  any  way. 

"  Stand  to  the  gun,  men !  "  he  cried.  "  If  any 
man  flunks  till  this  job  is  done,  I'll  brain  him 
with  my  rammer-head,  orders  or  no  orders." 

A  moment  later  the  faltering  of  number  three 
called  upon  him  for  the  execution  of  his  threat, 
126 


If  any  man  flunks —  /'//  brain  him  '  " 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

and  he  instantly  did  what  he  had  said  he  would 
do,  felling  the  man  to  the  grass,  stunned  for  the 
time  by  a  quick  blow  with  the  iron-bound  rammer- 
head.  Then  he  called  upon  number  five  to  take 
the  recreant's  place,  and  that  gun  continued  its 
work  until  the  hot  little  action  was  over. 

A  slouchy-looking  personage  had  been  standing 
by  all  the  while.  At  the  end  of  it  all  he  demanded 
Baillie  Pegram's  name  and  rank,  and  the  name 
of  his  battery.  That  evening  Baillie  Pegram's 
captain  sent  for  him,  and  said : 

"  I  am  going  to  make  you  my  sergeant-major. 
I  have  General  Jackson's  request  to  recognise 
your  good  conduct  under  his  eye  to-day.  Even 
without  his  suggestion  I  should  wish  to  have  you 
with  me  as  my  staff  sergeant.  I  have  kept  that 
post  open  until  now,  in  order  that  I  might  choose 
the  best  man  for  it." 

It  should  be  explained  that  the  rank  of  ser- 
geant-major is  the  very  highest  non-commissioned 
rank  known  to  military  life.  Ordinarily,  the  ser- 
geant-major is  a  regimental  non-commissioned 
officer.  But  following  the  French  system,  the 
Confederate  regulations  allowed  every  battery  of 
field-artillery  a  sergeant-major,  if  its  captain  so 

127 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

desired.  He  outranked  all  other  non-commis- 
sioned officers,  and  usually  exercised  a  lieutenant's 
command  in  battle  —  always  if  any  commissioned 
officer  were  absent  or  disabled.. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  Sergeant-Major  Baillie 
Pegram  was  too  busy  on  that  morning  to  look 
up  acquaintances  among  the  spectators  gathered 
there.  He  had  orders  to  execute,  and  details  of 
many  kinds  to  look  after,  including  the  making 
out  of  that  morning  report  which  every  company 
in  the  service  must  daily  render,  and  upon  which 
the  commanding  general  must  rely  for  informa- 
tion as  to  the  exact  number  of  fighting  men  he 
has  available  for  duty. 

Baillie  had  just  completed  this  task,  when  some 
one  brought  him  news  that  a  lady  in  a  carriage 
near  by  wished  to  speak  with  him.  Having  noth- 
ing now  to  do,  he  responded  to  the  call,  and  found 
Agatha  Ronald  awaiting  him.  She  sat  in  her 
carriage  alone.  In  her  lap  was  a  work-basket, 
fully  equipped  for  that  mending  which  these 
women  always  came  prepared  to  do  when  soldiers 
were  passing  by.  Baillie  had  no  mending  to  be 
done,  but  Agatha  bade  him  remove  his  jacket 
and  deliver  it  into  her  charge. 
128 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  We've  heard  what  happened  in  the  Valley 
the  other  day,"  she  said,  "  and  it  is  not  seemly 
for  a  sergeant-major  to  be  on  duty  without  the 
insignia  of  his  rank.  Red  is  the  artillery  colour, 
I  believe,  and  your  marks  are  three  chevrons, 
with  three  arches  connecting  them,  are  they  not? 
Fortunately,  I  brought  a  roll  of  red  braid.  So 
let  me  have  your  coat,  please,  and  I'll  readjust 
your  costume  to  your  rank." 

Agatha  spoke  glibly,  but  it  was  under  manifest 
constraint.  She  forced  and  feigned  a  lightness 
of  mood  which  she  did  not  feel,  and  her  manner 
deceived  Baillie  Pegram  completely,  as  it  was 
meant  to  do. 

"  What  a  fool  I  am,"  he  thought,  "  to  expect 
anything  else.  She  was  embarrassed  when  I 
last  saw  her,  and  worried,  but  that  was  all  on 
account  of  her  aunts.  She  is  her  own  mistress 
to-day,  and  —  well,  it  is  better  so.  There'll  be 
a  fight  to-morrow,  and  that's  fortunate." 

At  that  point  the  girl  interrupted  his  medita- 
tions by  saying,  in  her  assumed  tone  of  lightness, 
which  he  so  greatly  misinterpreted: 

"  I  know  there  is  war  between  your  house  and 
mine,  but  I'm  going  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to 

129 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

the  enemy,  if  it  comforts  you  to  have  your 
chevrons  properly  sewed  on." 

"  There  can  surely  be  no  war  between  me  and 
thee,"  he  answered,  with  earnestness  in  his  tone. 
"  At  any  rate,  I  do  not  make  war  upon  a  woman, 
and  least  of  all  —  " 

"  You  must  not  misunderstand,  Mr.  Pegram," 
the  girl  broke  in,  looking  at  him  earnestly  out 
of  her  great  brown  eyes.  "  I  esteem  you  highly, 
and  I  am  sorry  there  is  trouble  between  your 
house  and  mine.  But  I  am  not  disloyal  to  the 
memory  of  my  father.  You  must  never  think 
that.  It  is  only  that  you  are  a  gentleman  who 
has  been  kind  to  me,  and  a  soldier  whom  I  honour. 
But  the  war  endures  between  your  house  and 
mine." 

Had  she  slapped  him  in  the  face  with  her  open 
palm,  she  could  not  have  hurt  his  pride  more 
deeply.  He  snatched  his  jacket  from  her  hand. 
Only  one  sleeve  was  finished,  and  the  needle 
still  hung  from  it  by  a  thread. 

"  I'll  wear  it  so,"  he  said.  "  I,  at  any  rate, 
have  no  house.  I  am  the  last  of  my  race,  and 
let  me  say  to  you  now  —  for  I  shall  never  see 

130 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

you  again  of  my  own  free  will  —  that  the  war 
between  our  houses  will  completely  end  when  I 
receive  my  discharge  from  life." 

Then  a  new  thought  struck  him. 

"  It  is  not  for  Baillie  Pegram,  the  master  of 
Warlock,  that  you  have  done  this,"  touching  the 
braided  sleeve,  "  but  for  Baillie  Pegram,  the  sol- 
dier on  his  way  to  battle.  Let  it  be  so." 

Stung  by  his  own  words,  and  controlled  by 
an  impulse  akin  to  that  which  had  seized  him 
at  the  gun  two  days  before,  he  reached  out  and 
plucked  from  her  headgear  the  red  feather  that 
she  wore  there,  saying: 

"  Here!  fasten  that  in  my  hat.  I've  a  mind  to 
wear  it  in  battle  to-morrow.  Then  I'll  send  it 
back  to  you." 

What  demon  of  the  perverse  had  prompted  him 
to  this  action,  he  did  not  know,  but  the  girl  in 
her  turn  seemed  subject  to  its  will.  Instead  of 
resenting  what  he  had  done,  she  took  the  feather 
and  with  some  quickly  plied  stitches  fastened  it 
securely  to  his  already  soiled  and  worn  slouch 
hat.  Then  handing  it  back  to  him,  she  said : 

"  Good-bye.    God  grant  that  when  the  feather 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

comes  back  to  me,  it  be  not  stained  to  a  deeper 
red  than  now." 

At  that  moment  the  bugle  blew.  Baillie  touched 
his  hat,  bowed  low,  and  said : 

"  At  least  you  are  a  courteous  enemy." 

"  And  a  generous  one  ?  "  she  asked. 

But  he  did  not  answer  the  implied  question. 

When  he  had  gone,  Agatha  bent  low  over  her 
work-basket,  as  if  in  search  of  something  that 
she  could  not  find.  If  two  little  tear-drops  slipped 
from  between  her  eyelids,  nobody  caught  sight 
of  them. 

Presently  another  bugle  blew,  and  as  Baillie 
Pegram's  battery  took  up  the  march,  the  guns 
and  men  of  Captain  Skinner  took  its  place.  But 
this  time  there  was  no  mingling  of  the  men  with 
the  spectators.  Captain  Skinner  was  too  rigid 
a  disciplinarian  to  permit  that,  and  he  knew  his 
ruffians  too  well.  The  moment  the  battery  halted, 
the  sergeant  of  the  guard  posted  his  sentries,  and 
the  men  remained  within  the  battery  lines. 

Seeing  this,  Agatha  tripped  from  her  carriage, 
and,  work-basket  in  hand,  started  to  enter  the  bat- 
tery. She  was  instantly  halted  by  a  sentry,  whose 
132 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

appearance  did  not  tempt  her  to  dispute  his  au- 
thority. She  therefore  simply  said  to  him,  "  Call 
your  sergeant  of  the  guard,  please."  To  the 
sergeant,  when  he  came,  she  said,  "  Will  you 
please  report  to  Captain  Skinner  that  Miss  Agatha 
Ronald,  of  vVilloughby,  asks  leave  to  enter  the 
battery  lines,  in  order  to  do  such  mending  for  the 
men  as  may  ^e  needed  ?  " 

But  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  sergeant  to 
deliver  his  message,  for  Captain  Skinner,  way- 
worn and  dusty,  at  that  moment  presented  him- 
self, and  greeted  the  visitor. 

"  It  is  very  gracious  of  you,"  he  said,  "  but, 
my  dear  young  lady,  my  men  do  not  belong  to 
that  class  with  which  alone  you  are  acquainted. 
You  had  better  not  visit  my  camp." 

"  Your  men  are  soldiers,  sir,"  she  said,  "  and 
their  needs  may  be  quite  as  great  as  those  of  any 
others.  We  are  not  living  in  drawing-rooms  just 
now.  I  crave  your  permission  to  enter  the 
battery." 

The  captain  touched  his  hat  again,  signed  to 
the  sentry  to  let  the  young  woman  pass,  and  then, 
turning  to  the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  said: 

133 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  Post  ten  extra  sentinels  among  the  guns, 
with  orders  to  arrest  instantly  any  man  who 
utters  an  oath  or  in  any  other  way  offends  this 
young  lady's  ears.  See  to  it  yourself  that  this 
order  is  obeyed  to  the  letter." 


134 


IX 

THE   BIRTH  OF   WOMANHOOD 

THE  captain's  stern  commands  were  not 
needed,  and  the  extra  sentinels  had  no 
work  to  do  in  restraining  the  men  from  of- 
fensive speech  and  conduct.  They  courteously 
saluted  as  Agatha  passed  them  by,  and  when  they 
learned  what  her  kindly  mission  was,  they  hur- 
riedly brought  armfuls  of  saddle-blankets  and  ar- 
ranged them  as  a  cushion  for  her  on  the  top  of  a 
limber-chest.  Perched  up  there,  she  called  for 
their  torn  garments,  and  nimbly  plied  her  needle 
and  her  scissors  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour  be- 
fore observing  the  sentry  who  had  been  posted 
nearest  to  her.  His  slouch  hat,  indeed,  was  drawn 
down  over  his  eyes  in  such  fashion  that  but  little  of 
his  face  could  be  seen.  But  looking  up  at  last 
in  search  of  further  work  to  do,  she  recognised  the 
form  of  Marshall  Pollard.  Instantly  a  deep  flush 
overspread  her  face,  and,  dismounting  from  the 

135 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

limber-chest,  she  approached  and  addressed  him. 
He  presented  arms  and  said  to  her  in  French,  so 
that  those  about  them  might  not  understand : 

"  Pardon  me,  mademoiselle,  but  it  is  forbidden 
to  speak  to  a  sentinel  on  duty."  With  that  he 
recovered  arms  and  resumed  the  monotonous 
pacing  of  his  beat. 

As  the  girl  hurried  out  of  the  battery,  flushed 
and  agitated,  she  again  encountered  Captain 
Skinner. 

"  Has  anybody  been  rude  to  you,  Miss  Ron- 
ald? "  he  asked,  quickly. 

"  No,  Captain  Skinner,  I  have  only  praise  for 
your  men.  They  have  been  courteous  in  the 
extreme.  I  predict  that  they  will  acquit  them- 
selves right  gallantly  in  to-morrow's  battle." 

"  O,  they're  fighters,  and  will  give  a  good 
account  of  themselves  if  this  muddled  railroad 
management  lets  us  get  to  Manassas  before  the 
fighting  is  over." 

With  thanks  to  Agatha  for  her  kindness,  Cap- 
tain Skinner  bowed  low  in  farewell. 

Springing  into  her  carriage  she  gave  the  com- 
mand, "  Home,"  and  drove  away  without  waiting 
to  see  the  remainder  of  the  Army  of  the  Shenan- 
136 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

doah  as  it  moved,  partly  by  train,  and  partly  on 
march,  toward  the  scene  of  the  coming  battle. 

During  the  homeward  ride  the  girl  laughed 
and  chatted  with  her  companions  with  more 
than  her  usual  vivacity,  quite  as  if  this  had  been 
the  gladdest  of  all  her  gala-days.  But  the  gaiety 
was  forced,  and  the  laughter  had  a  nervous  note 
in  it  which  would  have  betrayed  its  impulse  to 
her  companions  had  they  been  of  closely  observant 
habit  of  mind. 

But  when  she  reached  home  Agatha  excused 
herself  to  her  friends,  and  shut  herself  in  her 
room.  Throwing  off  her  hat,  but  making  no 
other  change  in  her  costume,  she  stretched  herself 
upon  the  polished  floor,  after  a  habit  she  had 
indulged  since  childhood  whenever  her  spirit 
was  perturbed.  For  an  hour  she  lay  there  upon 
the  hard  ash  boards,  with  her  hands  clasped  under 
her  head,  thinking,  thinking,  thinking. 

"  God  knows,"  she  thought,  "  I  have  tried  to 
do  my  duty,  and  it  is  bitterly  hard  for  a  woman. 
In  loyalty  to  my  dead  father's  memory,  I  have 
insulted  and  wounded  the  only  man  I  could  ever 
have  loved,  and  sent  him  away  from  me  in  anger 
and  wretchedness.  And  even  in  doing  that  — 

137 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

even  in  being  cruel  to  him  and  to  myself,  I  have 
fallen  short  of  my  duty  as  Agatha  Ronald.  I 
have  weakly  yielded  something  at  least  of  that 
proud  attitude  which  it  is  my  duty  to  my  family 
traditions  to  maintain.  I  have  recognised  the 
state  of  war,  but  I  have  parleyed  with  the  enemy. 
And  Baillie  Pegram  is  at  this  hour  wearing  a 
plume  plucked  from  my  hat  and  fastened  into 
his  by  my  own  hands.  God  forgive  me  if  I 
have  been  disloyal !  But  is  it  disloyalty  ?  " 

With  that  question  echoing  in  her  mind  she 
sat  up,  staring  at  the  wall,  as  if  trying  there  to 
read  her  answer. 

"  Is  it  my  duty  to  cherish  a  feud  that  is  mean- 
ingless to  me  —  to  hate  a  man  who  has  done 
no  wrong  to  me  or  mine,  simply  because  there 
was  a  quarrel  between  our  ancestors  before  either 
of  us  was  born  ?  I  do  not  know !  I  do  not  know ! 
But  I  must  be  true  to  my  family,  true  to  my  race, 
true  to  the  traditions  in  which  I  have  been  bred. 
I  have  fallen  short  of  that  in  this  case.  I  must 
not  err  again.  I  must  never  again  forget,  even 
for  a  moment,  that  Baillie  Pegram  is  my  heredi- 
tary enemy." 

Then  she  caught  herself  thinking  and  almost 

138 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

wishing  that  a  Federal  bullet  might  end  her 
perplexity  —  that  Baillie  Pegram  might  never  live 
to  see  her  again.  "  I  wonder,"  she  thought,  "  if 
that  is  what  Christ  meant  when  he  said  that  one 
who  hates  his  neighbour  is  a  murderer  in  his 
heart.  It  is  all  a  blind  riddle  to  me.  Here  have 
I  been  brought  up  a  Christian,  taught  from  my 
infancy  that  hatred  is  murder,  and  taught  at  the 
same  time  that  it  is  my  highest  duty,  as  a  Ronald, 
to  go  on  hating  all  the  Pegrams  on  earth  because 
my  father  and  Baillie  Pegram's  grandfather  quar- 
relled over  something  that  I  know  absolutely 
nothing  about !  " 

Presently  the  girl's  mind  reverted  to  the  second 
meeting  of  that  eventful  day,  —  her  encounter 
with  Marshall  Pollard.  She  wondered  why  he 
had  enlisted  in  company  with  such  men  as  those 
who  constituted  Captain  Skinner's  battery,  for 
even  thus  early  those  men  had  become  known  as 
the  worst  gang  of  desperadoes  imaginable,  —  a 
band  that  must  be  kept  day  and  night  under  a  dis- 
cipline as  rigid  and  as  watchful  as  that  of  any 
State  prison,  lest  they  lapse  into  crimes  of  vio- 
lence. She  wondered  if  this  meant  that  the  pecul- 
iarly gentle-souled  Marshall  Pollard  was  trying 

139 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

to  "  throw  himself  away,"  as  she  had  heard  that 
men  disappointed  in  love  sometimes  do,  —  that  he 
wished  to  degrade  himself  by  low  associations. 

"  And  I  am  the  cause  of  it  all,"  she  mourned, 
For  she  knew  that  Marshall  Pollard  had  loved  her 
with  the  love  of  an  honest  man,  and  that  his  life 
had  been  darkened,  to  say  the  least,  by  her 
inability  to  respond  to  his  devotion.  In  this  case 
she  should  have  had  the  consolation  of  knowing 
that  she  had  been  guilty  of  no  wilful,  no  conscious 
wrong,  but,  in  her  present  mood,  she  was  disposed 
to  flagellate  her  soul  for  an  imagined  offence. 

"  He  came  to  me,"  she  reflected,  "  loving  me 
from  the  first.  Little  idiot  that  I  was,  I  did  not 
understand.  I  liked  him  as  a  girl  may  like  a  boy, 
—  for  I  was  only  a  girl  then,  —  and  I  did  not 
dream  that  the  affection  he  manifested  toward  me 
meant  more  than  that  sort  of  thing  on  his  part. 
Those  things  which  ought  to  have  revealed  to  me 
his  state  of  mind  meant  nothing  more  to  me  then 
than  do  the  little  gallantries  and  deferences  which 
all  men  pay  to  all  women.  How  bitterly  he 
reproached  me  at  the  last  for  having  deceived  him 
and  led  him  on  with  encouragements  which  I  at 
least  had  not  intended  as  such.  Are  all  women 
140 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

born  coquettes?  Is  it  our  cruel  instinct  to  trifle 
with  the  souls  of  men,  as  little  children  love  to 
torture  their  pets  ?  Have  we  women  no  principles, 
no  earnestness,  no  consciences  —  except  after- 
ward, when  remorse  awakens  us  ?  Are  we  blind, 
that  we  do  not  see,  and  deaf  that  we  do  not  hear  ? 
Or  is  it  our  nature  to  be  cruel,  especially  to  those 
who  love  us  and  offer  us  the  best  that  there  is 
in  their  strong  natures  ? 

"  I  remember  how  we  stood  out  there  in  the 
grounds,  under  the  jessamine  arbour,  as  the  sun 
went  down;  and  how  at  last,  when  I  had  made 
him  understand,  he  plucked  a  sprig  of  the  beauti- 
ful, golden  flowers  from  the  bunch  that  I  held  in 
my  hand,  and  how  I  bade  him  beware,  for  that 
the  jessamine  is  poisonous,  and  how  he  replied, 
'  Not  more  poisonous  than  it  is  to  love  a  coquette.' 

"  I  remember  that  he  gave  me  no  chance  to 
answer,  no  opportunity  to  protest  again  my  inno- 
cence of  such  intent  as  he  had  imputed  to  me 
in  his  passionate  speech,  but  turned  his  back  and 
stalked  away,  with  that  stride  which  I  saw  again 
to-day,  as  he  paced  his  beat.  That  was  two  years 
ago  —  and  to-day  I  have  seen  him  again  in  such 
company  as  he  would  never  have  sought  but  for 

HI 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

me,  —  the  willing  companion  of  ruffians,  the  asso- 
ciate of  desperadoes,  the  messmate  of  thieves ! " 

Agatha  was  on  her  feet  now,  and  nervously 
laying  aside  one  after  another  of  the  little  frip- 
peries with  which  she  had  decorated  her  person 
that  day.  She  found  herself  presently  half- 
unconsciously  searching  for  the  gown  that  she 
must  wear  at  dinner,  though  her  never-failing 
maid  had  laid  it  out  long  before  her  home-coming, 
that  it  might  be  in  readiness  for  her  need. 

A  sudden  thought  came  into  the  suffering 
girl's  mind. 

"  These  two  men,  whose  lives  are  hurt  by  their 
love  for  me,  will  suffer  far  less  than  I  shall.  They 
are  soldiers  as  strong  to  endure  as  they  are 
strong  to  dare.  They  have  occupation  for  all  their 
waking  hours.  They  will  be  upon  the  march,  in 
battle,  or  otherwise  actively  employed  all  the 
time.  In  remembering  more  strenuous  things 
they  will  forget  their  sorrows  and  throw  aside 
their  griefs  as  they  cast  away  everything  when 
they  go  into  battle  that  may  in  any  wise  hinder 
their  activity  or  embarrass  their  freedom.  I  must 
sit  still  here  at  Willoughby,  and  think,  and  think, 
and  think." 
142 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Then  like  a  lightning  flash  another  thought 
came  into  her  mind,  and  she  spoke  it  aloud : 

"  Why  should  I  be  idler  than  they  are  ?  Why 
should  I  sit  here  brooding  while  they  are  toiling 
and  fighting  for  Virginia?  I  am  no  more  afraid 
of  death  or  of  danger  than  they  are,  and  while 
women  may  not  fight,  there  are  other  ways  in 
which  a  woman  of  courage  may  render  quite  as 
good  a  service.  I'll  do  it.  I'll  take  the  risks.  I'll 
endure  the  hardships.  I'll  render  my  country  a 
service  that  shall  count" 

With  that  she  rang  for  her  maid  and  bade  her 
prepare  a  cold  plunge  bath.  When  she  descended 
to  dinner,  an  hour  later,  Agatha  no  longer  chat- 
tered frivolously,  as  she  had  done  in  the  carriage, 
by  way  of  concealing  her  emotions,  but  bore  her- 
self seriously,  as  became  her  in  view  of  the  pros- 
pect of  battle  on  the  morrow. 

In  that  hour  of  agonising  thought,  Agatha 
Ronald  had  ceased  to  be  a  girl,  and  had  become 
an  earnest,  resolute  woman,  strong  to  do,  strong 
to  endure,  and,  if  need  be,  strong  to  dare.  Life 
had  taken  on  a  new  meaning  in  her  eyes. 


X 

IN  ACTION 

IT  was  midnight  when  the  battery  to  which 
Baillie  was  attached  reached  Manassas  Junc- 
tion.   The  men  were  weary  and  half-starved 
after  three  days  of  righting  and  marching,  and 
the  horses,   worn  out  with  dragging  the  guns 
and   caissons   over    well-nigh    impassable    roads, 
were    famishing   for   water.      But   an   effort   to 
secure  water  and   forage  for  them   failed,   and 
so  did  an  effort  to  secure  water  and  rations  for 
the  men. 

For  on  the  eve  of  the  first  great  battle  of 
the  war  the  Southern  army  was  in  a  state 
of  semi-starvation  which  grew  worse  with  every 
hour  that  brought  fresh  relays  of  troops  but  no 
new  supplies  of  food.  Already  had  begun  that 
course  of  extraordinary  mismanagement  in  the 
supply  departments  at  Richmond  which  through- 
out the  war  kept  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
144 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

constantly  half-starving  or  wholly  starving,  even 
when,  as  at  Manassas,  it  lay  in  the  midst  of  a  land 
of  abounding  plenty. 

All  the  efforts  of  the  generals  commanding  in 
the  field  to  remedy  this  state  of  things  by  drawing 
upon  the  granaries  and  smoke-houses  round  about 
them  for  supplies  that  were  in  danger  of  pres- 
ently falling  into  the  enemy's  hands,  were 
thwarted  by  the  stupid  obstinacy  of  a  crack- 
brained  commissary-general.  It  was  his  inexpli- 
cable policy,  while  the  army  lay  at  Manassas  with 
an  unused  railroad  reaching  into  the  rich  fields 
to  the  west,  to  forbid  the  purchase  of  food  and 
forage  there  except  by  his  own  direct  agents, 
who  were  required  to  send  it  all  to  Richmond, 
whence  it  was  transported  back  again,  in  such 
meagre  quantities  as  an  already  overtaxed  single 
track  railroad  could  manage  to  carry. 

Red-tape  was  choking  the  army  to  death  from 
the  very  beginning,  and  it  continued  to  do  so  to 
the  end,  in  spite  of  all  remonstrances. 

Even  in  the  matter  of  water  the  men  at  Ma- 
nassas were  restricted  to  a  few  pints  a  day  to  each 
man  for  all  uses,  simply  because  the  commanding 

H5 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

general  was  not  allowed  the  simple  means  of  pro- 
curing a  more  adequate  supply. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  set 
forth  in  detail  those  facts  of  perverse  stupidity 
which  have  been  fully  stated  in  official  reports,  in 
General  Beauregard's  memoirs,  and  in  other 
authoritative  works.  Such  matters  are  mentioned 
herein  only  so  far  as  they  affected  the  events  that 
go  to  make  up  the  present  story. 

When  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah  began  to 
add  its  numbers  to  that  already  gathered  at» 
Manassas,  a  way  out  was  found,  so  far  at  least 
as  water  was  concerned,  by  sending  the  regiments 
and  batteries,  as  fast  as  they  came,  to  positions 
near  Bull  Run,  some  miles  in  front,  where  water 
at  least  was  to  be  had.  Baillie's  command,  worn 
out  as  it  was,  and  suffering  from  hunger,  was  hur- 
ried through  the  camp  and  forced  to  march  some 
weary  miles  farther  before  taking  even  that  small 
measure  of  rest  and  sleep  that  the  rapidly  waning 
night  allowed.  It  was  nearly  morning  when  the 
men  and  horses  were  permitted  to  drink  together 
out  of  the  muddy  stream  which  was  presently  to 
mark  the  fighting-line  between  two  armies  in 
fierce  battle  for  the  mastery. 
146 


The      Master    of    Warlock 

It  was  nearly  sunrise  when  a  cannon-shot  broke 
the  stillness  of  a  peculiarly  brilliant  Sunday  morn- 
ing and  summoned  all  the  weary  men  to  their 
posts.  A  little  later  the  battery  with  which  we 
are  concerned  received  its  orders  and  was  moved- 
into  position  on  the  line.  Its  complement  of  com- 
missioned officers  being  short,  Sergeant-Major 
Baillie  Pegram  had  command  of  the  two  guns 
which  constituted  the  left  section,  and  had  a  lieu- 
tenant's work  to  do. 

Troops  were  being  hurried  hither  and  thither 
in  what  seemed  to  Baillie's  inexperienced  eyes  a 
hopeless  confusion.  But  as  he  watched,  he  saw 
order  grow  out  of  the  chaos,  —  a  manifestation  of 
the  fact  that  there  was  one  mind  in  control,  and 
that  every  movement,  however  meaningless  it 
might  seem,  was  part  and  parcel  of  a  concerted 
plan,  and  was  intended  to  have  its  bearing  upon 
the  result. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  occasional  report  of  a 
rifle  had  grown  into  a  continuous  rattle  of  mus- 
ketry on  the  farther  side  of  the  stream,  where  the 
skirmishers  were  hotly  at  work,  their  firing  being 
punctuated  now  and  then  by  the  deeper  exclama- 
tion of  a  cannon.  But  the  work  of  the  day  had 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

not  yet  begun  in  earnest.  The  main  line  was 
not  yet  engaged,  and  would  not  be  until  the  skir- 
mishers should  slowly  fall  back  upon  it  from  their 
position  beyond  the  stream. 

To  men  in  line  of  battle  this  is  the  most  trying 
of  all  war's  experiences.  Then  it  is  that  every 
man  questions  himself  closely  as  to  his  ability  to 
endure  the  strain.  Nerves  are  stretched  to  a 
tension  that  threatens  collapse.  Speech  is  diffi- 
cult even  to  the  bravest  men,  and  the  longing  to 
plunge  into  the  fray  and  be  actively  engaged  is 
well-nigh  irresistible. 

All  this  and  worse  is  the  experience  even  of 
war-seasoned  veterans  when  they  must  stand  or 
lie  still  during  these  endless  minutes  of  waiting, 
while  the  skirmishers  are  engaged  in  front.  What 
must  have  been  the  strain  upon  the  nerves  and 
brains  of  men,  not  one  of  whom  had  as  yet  seen 
a  battle,  and  not  one  in  ten  of  whom  had  even 
received  his  "  baptism  of  fire  "  in  a  skirmish,  as 
the  men  in  Baillie's  battery  had  done  during  the 
week  before !  It  is  at  such  a  time,  and  not  in  the 
heat  of  battle,  that  men's  courage  is  apt  to  falter, 
and  that  discipline  alone  holds  them  to  their  duty. 

The  strain  was  rather  relieved  of  its  intensity 
148 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

by  the  shrieking  of  a  Hotchkiss  shell,  which  pres- 
ently burst  in  the  midst  of  Baillie  Pegram's  sec- 
tion and  not  far  from  his  person.  Then  came  the 
less  noisy  but  more  nerve-racking  patter  of 
musket-balls,  —  few  and  scattering  still,  as  the 
skirmish-lines  were  still  well  in  front, — but  deadly 
in  their  force,  as  was  seen  when  two  or  three 
of  the  men  suddenly  sank  to  the  ground  in  the 
midst  of  a  stillness  which  was  broken  only  by 
the  whiz  of  the  occasional  bullets. 

One  man  cried  out  with  pain.  The  rest  of 
those  struck  were  still.  The  one  who  cried  out 
was  slightly  wounded.  The  others  were  dead. 
And  the  battle  was  not  yet  begun. 

At  this  moment  came  a  courier  with  orders. 
Upon  receiving  them  the  captain  hurriedly  turned 
to  Baillie,  and  said : 

"  Take  your  section  across  the  Run,  at  the 
ford  there  just  to  the  left.  Take  position  with 
the  skirmish-line  and  get  your  orders  from  its 
commander.  Leave  your  caissons  behind,  and 
move  at  a  gallop." 

Baillie  Pegram  was  too  new  to  the  business 
of  war  to  understand  precisely  what  all  this 
meant.  Had  he  seen  a  little  more  of  war  he 

149 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

would  have  guessed  at  once  that  the  enemy  was 
moving  upon  the  Confederate  left  along  the  road 
that  lay  beyond  the  stream,  and  that  his  guns 
were  needed  to  aid  the  skirmishers  in  the  work 
to  be  done  in  front  in  preparation  for  the  battle 
that  had  not  yet  burst  in  all  its  fury.  He  would 
have  understood,  too,  from  the  order  to  leave 
his  caissons  behind,  that  the  stand  beyond  the 
stream  was  not  meant  to  be  of  long  duration. 
The  fifty  shots  he  carried  in  each  of  his  limber- 
chests  would  be  quite  enough  to  last  him  till 
orders  should  come  to  fall  back  across  the  stream 
again. 

But  he  did  not  understand  all  this  clearly. 
What  he  did  understand  was  that  he  was  under 
orders  to  take  his  guns  across  the  stream  and 
use  them  there  as  vigorously  as  he  could  till 
further  orders  should  come. 

As  he  emerged  from  the  woods  a  few  hundred 
yards  beyond  Bull  Run,  he  found  a  skirmish-line 
of  men  lying  down  and  contesting  the  ground 
inch  by  inch  with  another  line  like  their  own, 
beyond  which  he  could  see  the  heavy  columns  of 
the  enemy  marching  steadily  to  turn  the  Con- 
federate left  flank  and  force  it  from  its  position. 

150 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

Notwithstanding  his  lack  of  experience  in  such 
matters,  he  saw  instantly  what  was  happening, 
and  realised  that  this  left  wing  of  Beauregard's 
army  was  destined  to  receive  the  brunt  of  the 
enemy's  attack.  He  wondered,  in  his  ignorance, 
if  Beauregard  knew  all  this,  and  if  somebody 
ought  not  to  go  and  tell  him  of  it. 

He  had  no  time  to  think  beyond  this,  for  at 
that  moment  the  skirmish-line,  under  some  order 
which  he  had  not  heard,  gave  way  to  the  right 
and  left,  leaving  a  little  space  open  for  his  guns. 
Planting  them  there  he  opened  fire  with  shrapnel, 
which  he  now  and  then  changed  to  canister  when 
the  enemy,  in  his  eagerness,  pressed  forward  to 
within  scant  distance  of  the  slowly  retiring  skir- 
mish-line of  the  Confederates. 

Under  orders  Baillie  fell  back  with  the  skir- 
mishers, moving  the  guns  by  hand,  and  continu- 
ing to  fire  as  he  went. 

As  the  Confederate  skirmishers  drew  near  the 
stream  which  they  were  to  cross,  the  officer  in 
command  of  them  said  to  Pegram: 

"  Advance  your  guns  a  trifle,  Sergeant-Major, 
and  give  them  your  heaviest  fire  for  twenty-five 
seconds  or  so.  When  they  recoil,  limber  up  and 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

take  your  guns  across  the  creek  as  quickly  as 
possible.  I'll  cover  your  movement." 

Baillie  did  not  perfectly  understand  the  pur- 
pose of  this,  but  he  understood  his  orders,  and 
very  promptly  obeyed  them.  Advancing  his  guns 
quickly  to  a  little  knoll  thirty  or  forty  yards  in 
front,  he  opened  fire  with  double  charges  of 
canister,  each  gun  firing  at  the  rate  of  three  or 
four  times  a  minute,  and  each  vomiting  a  gallon 
of  iron  balls  at  each  discharge  into  the  faces 
of  a  line  of  men  not  a  hundred  yards  away.  At 
the  same  moment  the  riflemen  of  the  skirmish- 
line  rose  to  their  feet,  rushed  forward  with  a 
yell  that  impressed  Baillie  as  truly  demoniacal, 
and  delivered  a  murderous  volley  of  Minie  balls 
in  aid  of  his  canister.  The  combined  fire  was 
irresistible,  as  it  was  meant  to  be,  and  the  Fed- 
eral skirmishers  fell  back  in  some  confusion  in 
face  of  it. 

Then  the  cool-headed  leader  of  the  skirmishers 
turned  to  Baillie  and  commanded: 

"  Now  be  quick.  Take  your  guns  across  the 
creek  at  once.  They'll  be  on  us  again  in  a 
minute  with  reinforcements,  but  I'll  hold  them 
back  till  you  get  the  guns  across  —  " 

152 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

He  had  not  finished  his  order  when  he  fell, 
with  a  bullet  in  his  brain,  and  his  men,  picking 
him  up,  laid  him  limply  across  his  horse,  which 
two  of  them  hurried  to  the  rear,  passing  within 
ten  feet  of  Baillie  Pegram  as  he  struggled  to  get 
his  guns  across  the  run  without  wetting  his 
ammunition. 

"  Poor,  gallant  fellow !  "  thought  Baillie,  as  the 
corpse  was  borne  past  him.  "  He  was  only  a 
captain,  but  he  would  have  made  himself  a  major- 
general  presently,  with  his  coolness  and  his  deter- 
mination. He  died  too  soon !  " 

Meanwhile  Baillie  was  busy  executing  the 
order  that  the  dead  man  had  given  with  his  last 
breath,  while  some  other  was  in  command  out 
there  in  front  and  struggling  to  protect  the  guns 
till  they  could  pass  the  stream. 

It  is  always  so  in  life.  No  man  is  indispensable. 
When  one  man  falls  at  the  post  of  duty,  there 
is  always  some  other  to  take  his  place.  "  Men 
may  come  and  men  may  go,"  but  the  work  that 
men  were  born  to  do  "  goes  on  for  ever." 

As  Baillie  was  directing  the  struggles  of  his 
drivers  in  the  difficult  task  of  recrossing  the 
stream,  three  shells  burst  over  him  in  so  quick  a 

153 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

succession  that  he  did  not  know  from  which  of 
them  came  the  fragment  that  cut  a  great  gash  in 
his  head  and  rendered  him  for  the  moment  sense- 
less. He  recovered  himself  quickly,  and  this  was 
fortunate,  for  his  untrained  and  inexperienced 
men  were  far  less  steady  in  retreat  under  fire 
than  they  had  been  out  there  in  front,  and 
Baillie's  direction  was  needed  now  to  prevent 
them  from  abandoning  in  panic  the  guns  with 
which  they  had  fought  so  gallantly  a  few  minutes 
before. 

Under  his  sharply  given  commands  they  recov- 
ered their  morale,  and  a  few  minutes  later 
Baillie  brought  his  powder-grimed  guns  again 
into  position  on  the  left  of  the  battery.  Then, 
half-blinded  by  the  blood  that  was  flowing  freely 
over  his  face  and  clothing,  he  sought  his  captain, 
raised  his  hand  in  salute,  and  said,  feebly : 

"  Captain,  I  beg  to  report  that  I  have  executed 
my  orders.  My  men  have  behaved  well,  every  —  " 

A  heavy  musketry  fire  from  the  enemy  at  that 
moment  began,  and  Baillie  Pegram's  horse  — 
the  beautiful  sorrel  mare  on  which  Agatha  had 
once  ridden  —  sank  under  him,  in  that  strange, 

154 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

limp  way  in  which  a  horse  falls  when  killed 
instantly  by  a  bullet  received  in  any  vital  part. 

By  good  fortune  the  sergeant-major  was  not 
caught  under  the  animal,  but  as  he  tried  to  walk 
toward  the  new  mount  which  he  had  asked  for, 
he  staggered  and  fell,  much  as  the  mare  had  done, 
but  from  a  different  cause.  Complete  uncon- 
sciousness had  overtaken  him,  as  a  consequence 
of  the  shock  of  his  wound  and  the  resultant  loss 
of  blood. 

When  he  came  to  consciousness  again,  he  was 
lying  on  the  grass  under  a  tree,  with  a  young 
surgeon  kneeling  beside  him,  busy  with  bandages. 
For  a  time  his  consciousness  did  not  extend 
beyond  his  immediate  surroundings  and  the 
terrific  aching  of  his  head.  Presently  the  heavy 
firing  which  seemed  to  be  all  about  him,  and  the 
zip,  zip,  zip  of  bullets  as  they  struck  the  earth 
under  the  hospital  tree  brought  him  to  a  realisa- 
tion of  the  fact  that  battle  was  raging  there,  and 
that  he,  somehow,  —  he  could  not  make  out  how, 
—  was  absent  from  his  post  with  the  guns.  He 
made  a  sudden  effort  to  rise,  but  instantly  fell 
back  again,  unconscious. 

When  he  next  came  to  himself  there  was  a 

155 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

sound  as  of  thousands  of  yelling  demons  in  his 
ears,  which  he  presently  made  out  to  be  the  "  rebel 
yell  "  issuing  from  multitudinous  throats.  There 
were  hoof-beats  all  about  him,  too,  the  hoof-beats 
of  a  thousand  horses  moving  at  full  speed.  Ex- 
cited by  these  sounds,  wondering  and  anxiously 
apprehensive,  he  made  another  effort  to  rise,  but 
was  promptly  restrained  by  the  strong  but  gentle 
hands  of  an  attendant,  who  said  to  him,  with 
more  of  good  sense  than  grammar : 

"  Lay  still.  It's  all  right,  and  it's  all  over. 
We've  licked  'em,  and  they's  a-runnin'  like  mad. 
The  horsemen  what  passed  us  was  Stuart's  cav- 
alry, a-goin'  after  'em  to  see  that  they  don't  stop 
too  soon." 

Stuart  was  drunk  with  delight.  He  shouted  to 
his  men,  as  he  rode  across  Stone  Bridge :  "  Come 
on,  boys !  We'll  gallop  over  the  long  bridge  into 
Washington  to-night  if  some  blockhead  doesn't 
stop  us  with  orders,  and  I  reckon  we  can  gallop 
away  from  orders !  " 

Baillie  lay  still  only  because  the  attendant  kept 
a  hand  upon  his  chest  and  so  restrained  him.  As 
he  listened,  the  firing  receded  and  grew  less  in 
volume,  except  that  now  and  then  it  burst  out  in 

156 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

a  volley.  That  was  when  one  of  Stuart's  squad- 
rons came  suddenly  upon  a  mass  of  their  confused 
and  fleeing  foes  and  poured  a  hail-storm  of  leaden 
cones  in  among  them  as  a  suggestion  that  it  was 
time  for  them  to  scatter  and  resume  their  run  for 
Washington. 

As  the  turmoil  grew  less  and  faded  into  the 
distance,  Baillie's  wits  slowly  came  back  to  him, 
and  thoughts  of  himself  returned. 

"  Where  am  I  ?  "  was  his  first  question. 

"  Under  a  hospital  tree  on  the  battle-field  of 
Manassas,"  answered  the  nurse.  "  You're  about 
two  hundred  yards  in  the  rear  of  the  position 
where  your  battery  has  been  covering  itself  with 
glory  all  day.  It's  gone  now  to  help  in  the  pur- 
suit. But  it's  had  it  hot  and  heavy  all  day,  judg- 
ing from  the  stoppings  over." 

"  The  '  stoppings  over  ?  '  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  the  bullets  and  shells  and  things  that 
didn't  get  theirselves  stopped,  like,  on  the  lines, 
but  come  botherin'  over  here  by  this  hospital  tree. 
Two  of  'em  hit  wounded  men,  an'  finally,  just  at 
the  last,  you  know,  the  doctor  got  his  come- 
uppance." 

"Was  he  wounded?" 

157 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  Wuss  'n  that.  He  war  killed,  jes'  like  a 
ordinary  soldier.  That's  why  you're  still  a-layin' 
here,  an'  here  you'll  lay,  I  reckon,  all  night,  for 
they  ain't  nobody  left  to  give  no  orders,  'ceptin' 
me,  an'  I  ain't  nothin'  but  a  detail.  But  I'm 
a-goin'  to  git  you  somethin'  to  eat  ef  I  kin. 
They's  another  hospital  jest  over  the  hill,  an' 
mebbe  they've  got  somethin'  to  eat,  an'  mebbe 
they's  a  spare  surgeon  there,  too.  Anyhow  I'm 
a-goin'  to  do  the  best  I  kin  fer  you  an'  the  rest." 

"How  many  of  us  are  there?"  asked  Baillie. 

"  Only  four  now  —  not  enough  for  them  to 
bother  about,  I  s'pose  they'll  say,  specially  sence 
two  on  'em  is  clean  bound  to  die,  anyhow.  All 
the  slightly  wounded  has  been  carried  away  to 
a  reg'lar  hospital.  That's  their  game,  I  reckon 
—  to  take  good  keer  o'  the  fellers  that's  a-goin' 
to  git  well,  so  as  to  make  complaints  ef  they 
don't,  an'  leave  the  rest  what  can't  live  to  make 
no  complaints  to  die  where  they  is." 

Baillie  was  too  weak,  and  still  too  muddled  in 
his  intelligence,  to  disabuse  the  mountaineer's 
mind  of  this  misconception.  It  is  only  ordinary 
justice  to  say  that  his  interpretation  was  utterly 
wrong.  There  was  never  a  more  heroic  set  of 

158 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

men  than  the  surgeons  who  ministered  on  the 
battle-fields  of  the  Civil  War  to  the  wounded  on 
one  side  or  on  the  other.  At  the  beginning,  their 
department  was  utterly  unorganised,  and  scarcely 
at  all  equipped,  either  with  material  appliances 
or  with  capable  human  help  in  the  way  of  nurses, 
litter-bearers,  or  ambulance-men.  They  did  the 
best  they  could.  When  battle  was  on,  they  hung 
yellow  flags  from  trees  as  near  the  firing-line  as 
possible,  and  these  flags  were  respected  by  both 
sides,  so  far  as  intentional  firing  upon  them  was 
concerned.  But  located  as  they  were,  just  in  the 
rear  of  the  fighters,  these  field-hospitals  were  con- 
stantly under  a  heavy  fire,  aimed  not  at  them,  but 
at  the  fighting-line  in  front,  and  it  was  under  such 
a  fire  that  the  young  surgeons  did  their  difficult 
and  very  delicate  work.  The  tying  of  an  artery 
was  often  interfered  with  by  the  bursting  of  a 
shell  which  half-buried  both  patient  and  surgeon 
in  loose  earth.  It  was  the  duty  of  these  field- 
surgeons  to  do  only  so  much  as  might  be  imme- 
diately necessary — to  put  their  patients  as  quickly 
as  possible  into  a  condition  in  which  it  was  reason- 
ably safe  to  send  them,  in  ambulances  or  upon 
litters,  to  some  better-equipped  hospital  in  the 

159 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

rear.  Very  naturally  and  very  properly,  the  sur- 
geons discriminated,  in  selecting  wounded  men  to 
send  to  the  hospitals,  between  those  who  were  in 
condition  to  be  removed,  and  those  to  whom 
removal  would  mean  death,  certainly  or  probably. 
The  mountaineer,  who  had  been  detailed  as  a 
hospital  attendant  that  day,  did  not  understand, 
and  so  he  misinterpreted. 

"Where  is  my  hat?"  Baillie  Pegram  asked, 
after  a  period  of  silence. 

"Is  it  the  one  with  a  red  feather  in  it?  "  re- 
sponded the  attendant. 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  it's  a  good  deal  the  wuss  for  wear," 
answered  the  man,  producing  the  blood-soaked 
and  soil-stained  headgear.  "  I  don't  think  you'll 
want  to  wear  it  again." 

But  when  the  headpiece  was  brought,  the  young 
man,  with  feeble  and  uncertain  fingers,  detached 
the  feather  and  thrust  it  inside  his  flannel  shirt, 
leaving  the  lacerated  hat  where  it  had  fallen  upon 
the  ground. 

"  Am  I  badly  wounded  ?  "  Pegram  asked,  after 
a  little. 

"  Well,"  answered  the  man,  "  you've  got  a 
1 60 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

good  deal  moren  I  should  like  to  be  a-carryin' 
around  with  me.  But  I  reckon  you'll  pull  through, 
perticular  ef  you  kin  git  to  a  hospital  after  a 
bit." 

Just  then,  as  night  was  falling,  a  pitiless 
rain  began,  and  all  night  long  Baillie  Pegram 
lay  in  a  furrow  of  the  field,  soaked  and  suffering. 
But  he  removed  the  feather  from  its  hiding-place, 
and  held  it  upon  his  chest,  in  order  that  the  rain 
might  wash  away  the  blood-stains  with  which  it 
had  been  saturated. 

When  the  morning  came,  and  the  ambulance 
with  it,  the  blood-stains  were  gone  and  the  feather 
was  clean,  though  its  texture  was  limp,  its  ap- 
pearance bedraggled,  and  much  of  its  original 
colour  had  been  washed  out. 

Two  or  three  days  later,  Agatha  Ronald  at 
her  home  received  by  mail  a  package  containing 
a  feather,  once  red  but  now  badly  faded.  No  note 
or  message  of  any  kind  accompanied  it,  but 
Agatha  understood.  She  had  already  learned 
through  the  newspapers  that  "  Sergeant-Major 
Baillie  Pegram,  after  a  desperate  encounter  with 
the  enemy  on  the  outer  lines,  had  been  severely  — 

161 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

perhaps  mortally  —  wounded  in  the  head ;  "  and 
that  "  Sergeant-Major  Baillie  Pegram  has  been 
mentioned  in  General  Orders  for  his  gallant  con- 
duct on  the  field,  with  a  recommendation  for 
promotion,  if  he  recovers  from  his  wounds,  as 
the  surgeons  give  little  hope  that  he  will." 

She  wrapped  the  faded  feather  in  tissue-paper, 
deposited  it  in  a  jewelled  glove-box  which  had 
come  to  her  as  an  heirloom  from  her  mother,  and 
put  it  away  in  one  of  her  most  sacred  depositories. 

A  week  or  two  later,  she  learned  that  Sergeant- 
Major  Baillie  Pegram  had  been  removed  from 
the  general  hospital  at  Richmond  to  his  home  at 
Warlock,  and  that  he  was  now  expected  to  recover 
from  his  wounds. 


162 


XI 

AT   WARLOCK 

IT'S    jes'    what    I    done   tole   you    niggas 
fust  off." 

That  was  Sam's  comment  upon  the  situa- 
tion when  his  master  was  brought  home  to  War- 
lock, stretched  upon  a  litter. 

"  I  done  tole  yer  what'd  happen  when  Mas' 
Baillie  go  off  to  de  wah  in  dat  way,  'thout  Sam 
to  take  k'yar  of  him.  An*  bar  in  min'  what 
else  I  done  tole  yer,  too.  Ain't  de  chinch-bug 
done  et  up  de  wheat,  jes'  as  I  tole  yer?  Now, 
Mas'  Baillie,  he's  a-gwine  to  die  wid  that  hole 
in  he  haid.  Den  what's  a-gwine  to  become  o' 
you  niggas?  " 

Sam  promptly  installed  himself  as  his  master's 
nurse,  sitting  by  him  during  the  day,  and  sleeping 
on  the  floor  by  his  bedside  every  night.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  likely  that  the  negro's  dismal 
prophecy  of  Baillie's  death  would  be  fulfilled,  but 

163 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

with  rest  and  the  bracing  air  of  his  own  home, 
he  slowly  grew  better,  until  he  was  able  at  last 
to  sun  himself  in  the  porch  or  under  the  trees 
of  the  lawn. 

He  chafed  a  good  deal  at  first  over  the  fact 
that  he  had  not  seen  the  major  part  of  the  fight- 
ing along  Bull  Run,  and  it  annoyed  him  still 
more  that  he  was  likely  to  lose  his  share  in  a 
campaign  which  was  expected  to  bring  the  war 
to  a  speedy  and  glorious  end.  It  was  Marshall 
Pollard  who  laughed  him  out  of  this  latter  regret. 
During  the  long  waiting-time  that  followed  the 
battle  of  Manassas,  Marshall,  who  had  gained 
a  lieutenancy  in  his  battery,  secured  several  brief 
leaves  of  absence  in  order  to  visit  the  convales- 
cent man  at  Warlock. 

"  You're  missing  nothing  whatever,  Baillie," 
he  said  to  him  one  day,  in  answer  to  his  querulous 
complainings.  "  We're  doing  nothing  out  there 
in  front  of  Washington,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
we're  not  likely  to  do  anything  for  many  months 
to  come.  When  the  battle  of  Manassas  ended 
in  such  a  rout  of  the  enemy  as  never  will  happen 
again,  we  all  expected  to  push  on  into  Washing- 
ton, where  only  a  very  feeble,  resistance  or  none 
164 


The      Master    of    Warlock 

at  all  would  have  been  met.  When  that  didn't 
happen,  we  confidently  expected  that  the  army 
at  Centreville  would  be  reinforced  at  once  with 
every  man  who  could  be  hurried  to  the  front, 
and  that  General  Johnston  would  push  across 
the  Potomac  and  take  Washington  in  the  rear, 
or  capture  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  and  cut 
Washington  off. 

"  I  don't  pretend  to  understand  grand  strat- 
egy, but  this  was  plain  common  sense,  and  I 
suppose  that  common  sense  has  its  part  to  play 
in  grand  strategy,  as  in  everything  else.  Any- 
how, it  is  certain  that  that  was  the  time  to  strike, 
and  if  the  army  at  Manassas  had  been  reinforced 
and  pushed  across  the  Potomac  while  the  enemy 
was  so  hopelessly  demoralised  and  disintegrated, 
there  is  not  the  smallest  doubt  in  my  mind  that 
the  war  would  have  come  to  an  end  within  a 
month  or  two.  Instead  of  that,  we  have  done 
nothing,  while  the  enemy  has  been  straining  every 
nerve  to  bring  new  troops  into  the  field  by  scores 
of  thousands,  and  to  drill  and  discipline  them 
for  the  serious  work  of  war.  They  have  done 
all  this  so  effectually  that  they  now  have  two 
or  three  men  to  our  one,  half  a  dozen  guns  to 

165 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

our  one,  and  supply  departments  so  perfectly  or- 
ganised that  no  man  in  all  that  host  need  go 
without  his  three  good  meals  a  day,  while  we  are 
kept  very  nearly  in  a  state  of  starvation,  and  are 
now  fortifying  at  Centreville,  like  a  beaten  army, 
whose  chief  concern  is  to  defend  itself  against 
the  danger  of  capture." 

"  Have  you  ever  heard  an  explanation  of  this 
strange  state  of  things?"  asked  Baillie.  "You 
see,  I've  been  out  of  the  way  of  hearing  anything 
ever  since  the  battle." 

"  O,  yes,  I've  heard  all  sorts  of  explanations. 
But  the  real  explanation,  I  think,  is  the  lack  of  an 
experienced  general,  capable  of  grasping  the  sit- 
uation and  turning  it  to  account.  Neither  in  the 
field  nor  in  authority  at  Richmond,  have  we  a 
man  who  ever  commanded  an  army,  or  even 
looked  on  while  a  great  campaign  was  in  prog- 
ress. General  Johnston  and  General  Beaure- 
gard  are  doubtless  very  capable  officers  in  their 
way.  But  until  this  war  came,  they  were  mere 
captains  in  the  engineer  corps,  engaged  in  con- 
structing Mississippi  levees,  and  that  sort  of 
thing.  Neither  of  them  ever  in  his  life  com- 
manded a  brigade.  Neither  ever  saw  a  great 

1 66 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

battle,  or  had  anything  to  do  with  an  army  com- 
posed of  men  by  scores  of  thousands. 

"  Their  victory  at  Manassas  simply  appalled 
them.  They  didn't  know  at  all  what  to  do  next. 
They  will  probably  become  good  and  capable 
commanders  of  armies  before  the  war  is  over, 
but  at  present  they  are  only  ex-captains  of  engi- 
neers, suddenly  thrust  into  positions  for  which 
they  have  absolutely  none  of  that  fitness  which 
comes  of  experience." 

"  But  have  they  not  learned  enough  yet  ?  Will 
they  not  now  see  their  opportunity,  and  undertake 
a  fall  campaign?  " 

"  No.  The  opportunity  is  entirely  gone.  The 
Federal  army  is  to-day  much  stronger  in  every 
way  than  our  own.  We  have  pottered  away  the 
months  that  should  have  been  spent  in  vigorous 
and  decisive  action.  The  only  man  in  our  army 
capable  of  seeing  and  seizing  such  an  opportunity 
and  turning  it  to  account  —  I  mean  Robert  E. 
Lee  —  has  been  kept  in  the  mountains  of  Western 
Virginia,  engaged  in  settling  wretched  little  dis- 
putes among  a  lot  of  incapable,  cantankerous 
political  brigadiers.  It  means  a  long  war  and  a 
terrible  one,  Baillie,  and  you'll  have  opportunity 

167 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

to  do  all  the  fighting  you  want  before  it  is  over. 
But  nothing  of  any  consequence  will  be  done  this 
fall." 

The  young  lieutenant  was  quite  right  in  his 
prophecy.  Except  for  a  little  contest  at  Draines- 
ville  —  amounting  to  scarcely  more  than  a  skir- 
mish —  there  was  absolutely  nothing  done  until 
the  2ist  of  October.  Then  occurred  the  small, 
badly  ordered  and  strategically  meaningless  bat- 
tle of  Leesburg,  or  Ball's  Bluff,  when  the  Federals 
were  again  completely  defeated.  After  that  came 
a  long  autumn  of  superb  campaigning  weather, 
and  a  tedious  winter  of  complete  inaction.  Fed- 
eral expeditions  besieged  some  of  the  forts  and 
islands  along  the  Carolina  coasts,  thus  preparing 
the  way  for  a  coast  campaign  which  was  never 
made  in  earnest. 

There  was  fighting  of  some  consequence  in 
Kentucky  and  Missouri,  and  as  the  winter  waned, 
General  Grant  made  his  important  campaign 
against  the  forts  on  the  Tennessee  and  Cumber- 
land Rivers,  breaking  the  Confederate  line  of 
defence  in  that  quarter,  and  pushing  it  south- 
ward. But  in  Virginia,  •  the  natural  battle-field, 

1 68 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

absolutely   nothing   was   done  during  all   those 
months  of  weary  waiting. 

For  this  strange  and  strangely  prolonged  pause 
in  a  war  which  had  begun  with  a  rush  and  a 
hurrah,  history  has  been  puzzled  to  find  an  ex- 
planation. It  is  true  that  the  Confederate  forces 
were  untrained  volunteers,  whose  endurance  and 
discipline  could  not  have  been  relied  upon  in  an 
aggressive  campaign  to  anything  like  the  extent 
to  which  Lee  afterward  depended  upon  the  un- 
flinching endurance  and  unfaltering  courage  of 
these  same  men.  But  the  Federal  army  was 
at  that  time  in  much  worse  condition.  To 
unfamiliarity  with  war  and  to  complete  lack  of 
discipline  in  that  army,  there  was  added  the  de- 
moralisation of  disastrous  defeat  and  panic.  Gen- 
eral McClellan  said  in  his  official  capacity,  and 
with  carefully  chosen  words,  that  when  he  was 
placed  in  control  in  August,  he  found  "  no  army 
to  command,  —  a  mere  collection  of  regiments 
cowering  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  some  per- 
fectly raw,  others  dispirited  by  recent  defeat, 
some  going  home."  He  completed  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  situation  by  saying :  "  There  were  no 
defensive  works  on  the  southern  approaches  to 

169 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

the  capital.  Washington  was  crowded  with  strag- 
gling officers  and  men  absent  from  their  stations 
without  authority." 

Why  the  Confederates,  with  their  great  vic- 
tory to  urge  them  on,  made  no  effort  to  take 
advantage  of  such  conditions,  but  lay  still  in- 
stead, giving  McClellan  many  months  in  which 
to  recruit  and  organise  and  drill  his  forces  into 
one  of  the  most  formidable  armies  of  modern 
times,  is  one  of  the  puzzles  of  history.  Perhaps 
Marshall  Pollard's  suggestion  was  the  correct 
explanation,  —  namely,  that  there  was  no  gen- 
eral at  Manassas  who  knew  what  to  do  with 
a  great  opportunity,  or  how  to  do  it. 

Seeing  that  Baillie  was  becoming  excited  by 
this  serious  talk,  his  friend  adroitly  turned  the 
conversation  to  less  strenuous  matters.  Half 
an  hour  later  The  Oaks  ladies  drove  up  in  their 
antique,  high-hung  carriage,  to  make  that  formal 
inquiry  concerning  Mr.  Baillie  Pegram's  convales- 
cence which  from  the  first  they  had  made  with 
great  scrupulousness  three  times  every  week. 

When  they  had  gone,  Pollard  asked: 

"  Have  you  seen  Miss  Agatha  since  that  day 

170 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

last  spring,  when  you  were  requested  not  to  visit 
The  Oaks?" 

For  a  moment  Baillie  remained  silent.  Then 
he  said :  "If  you  don't  mind,  I'd  rather  not 
talk  of  that,  Marshall." 

That  was  all  that  passed  between  these  two 
on  that  subject  during  the  week  of  Marshall's 
stay  at  Warlock.  How  unlike  men  are  to  women 
in  these  things !  Had  these  two  young  men  been 
two  young  women  instead,  how  minutely  each 
would  have  confided  to  the  other  the  last  detail 
of  experience  and  thought  and  feeling!  And 
this  not  because  women  are  more  emotional  than 
men  —  for  they  are  not  —  but  because  they  are 
not  ashamed,  as  men  are,  of  the  tenderer  side 
of  their  natures. 


171 


XII 

UNDER  ESCORT 

NO  sooner  had  Agatha  Ronald  determined 
to  enter  upon  a  career  of  very  dangerous 
service  to  her  cause  and  country,  than  she 
set  herself  diligently  to  the  work  of  perfecting 
plans  which  were  at  first  vague  and  undefined.  It 
was  no  part  of  her  purpose  to  fail  if  by  any  fore- 
thought and  thoroughness  of  preparation  she 
might  avert  the  danger  of  failure.  She  deter- 
mined to  do  nothing  until  every  point  and  possi- 
bility, so  far  as  conditions  could  be  foreseen, 
should  be  considered  and  provided  for. 

First  of  all,  she  entered  into  perfect  confidence 
with  her  maid,  Martha,  telling  the  trusty  negro 
woman  as  she  meant  to  tell  no  other  person  near 
her,  except  her  grandfather,  precisely  what  she 
intended  to  do,  and  how.  Martha  had  a  shrewd 
intelligence  likely  to  be  useful  in  emergencies, 
and  her  devotion  to  her  mistress  was  as  absolute 
172 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

as  that  of  any  devotee  to  an  object  of  worship. 
This  mistress  had  been  hers  to  care  for  by  night 
and  by  day  ever  since  Agatha  had  been  four  years 
of  age.  All  of  loyalty,  all  of  affection,  all  of 
self-sacrificing  devotion  of  which  the  negro  char- 
acter in  its  best  estate  is  capable,  she  gave  to 
Agatha,  never  doubting  her  due  or  questioning 
her  right  to  such  service  of  the  heart  and  soul. 
She  knew  no  other  love  than  this,  no  other  life 
than  that  of  unceasing,  all-embracing  care  for  her 
mistress. 

It  was  with  no  shadow  of  doubt  or  hesitation, 
therefore,  that  Agatha  revealed  her  purposes  to 
Martha,  and  asked  for  her  aid  in  carrying  them 
out.  And  Martha  received  the  somewhat  start- 
ling confidence  as  calmly  as  if  her  mistress  had 
been  telling  her  of  an  intended  afternoon  drive. 

When  matters  had  settled  down  into  apathetic 
idleness  after  the  battle  of  Manassas,  Agatha 
made  occasion  to  visit  the  army.  Officers  at 
Fairfax  Court-house  had  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ters with  them  at  their  headquarters  then,  and 
many  of  these  were  Agatha's  intimates,  whom 
she  might  visit  without  formal  invitation. 

At  their  quarters,  she  received  visits  from  such 

173 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

of  her  friends  as  belonged  to  the  cavalry  forces 
stationed  thereabouts.  In  her  intercourse  with 
these,  she  steadily  maintained  the  innocent  little 
fiction  that  she  was  there  solely  for  social  pur- 
poses, and  to  see  the  splendid  army  that  had  so 
recently  won  an  astonishing  victory. 

One  day,  she  learned  that  the  picturesque  cav- 
alier, General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  had  boldly  pushed 
his  outposts  to  Mason's  and  Munson's  Hills,  and 
established  his  headquarters  under  a  tree,  within 
easy  sight  of  Washington.  She  instantly  de- 
veloped an  intense  desire  to  visit  him  there.  It 
happened  that  she  knew  Stuart  and  his  family 
personally,  and  had  often  dined  in  the  great  cav- 
alry leader's  company  at  her  own  and  other 
homes.  So  she  said  one  day,  to  a  young  cavalry 
officer,  who  was  calling  upon  her : 

"  I  want  you  to  do  me  a  very  great  service. 
I  want  you  to  ask  General  Stuart  to  let  me  visit 
him  at  the  outposts.  He'll  offer  to  come  here 
to  call  upon  me  instead,  for  he  is  always  gallant, 
but  you  are  to  tell  him  I  will  not  permit  that. 
The  service  needs  him  at  the  front,  and  I  want 
to  visit  him  there.  Besides,  I  particularly  want 

174 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

to  take  a  peep  at  Washington  City  in  its  new 
guise  as  a  foreign  capital  which  we  are  besieging." 

The  young  man  remonstrated.  He  protested 
that  there  was  very  great  danger  in  the  attempt 
—  that  raids  from  the  picket-lines  were  of  daily 
occurrence,  that  the  firing  was  often  severe  — 
and  all  the  rest  of  it,  wherefore  General  Stuart 
would  almost  certainly  forbid  the  young  lady's 
proposed  enterprise. 

The  girl  calmly  looked  the  young  man  in  the 
eyes  —  he  was  an  old  friend  whom  she  had 
known  from  her  childhood  —  and  said,  very  sol- 
emnly : 

"  Charlie,  I  am  no  more  afraid  of  bullets  than 
you  are.  My  heart  is  set  upon  this  visit,  and 
you  must  arrange  it  for  me.  As  for  General 
Stuart,  I'll  manage  him,  if  you'll  carry  a  note 
to  him  for  me." 

That  young  man  had  once  begun  to  make 
love  to  Agatha,  and  she  had  checked  him  gently 
and  affectionately  in  time  to  spare  his  pride,  and 
to  make  of  him  her  willing  knight  for  all  time 
to  come.  So  he  answered  promptly : 

"  I'll  carry  your  note,  of  course,  and  if  Stuart 
gives  permission,  I'll  beg  to  be  myself  your  escort. 

175 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Then,  if  anybody  bothers  you  with  bullets  or  any- 
thing else,  it'll  be  a  good  deal  the  worse  for 
him." 

The  girl  thanked  him  in  a  way  that  would  have 
made  a  hero  of  him  in  her  defence  had  occasion 
served,  and  presently  she  scribbled  a  little  note 
and  placed  it  in  the  young  cavalryman's  hands  for 
delivery.  It  was  simple  enough,  but  it  was  so 
worded  as  to  make  sure  that  Stuart  would 
promptly  grant  its  request.  It  ran  as  follows : 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  STUART  :  —  I  very  much 
want  to  see  you  for  half  an  hour  out  where  you 
are,  at  Mason's  or  Munson's  Hill,  and  not  here 
at  Fairfax  Court-house.  My  visit  will  be  abso- 
lutely and  entirely  in  the  public  interest,  though 
to  all  others  than  yourself  I  am  pretending  that 
it  is  prompted  solely  by  the  whim  of  a  romantic 
young  girl.  Please  send  a  permit  at  once,  and 
please  permit  Lieutenant  Fauntleroy,  who  bears 
this,  to  be  my  escort." 

The  note  was  unsealed,  of  course,  except  by 
the  honour  of  the  gentleman  who  bore  it.   Stuart's 
response  was  prompt,  as  every  act  of  his  enthu- 
176 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

siastic  life  was  sure  to  be.  He  read  the  note, 
held  a  corner  of  the  sheet  in  the  blaze  of  his 
camp-fire,  and  retained  his  hold  upon  the  farther 
corner  of  it  until  it  was  quite  consumed.  Then 
he  dropped  the  charred  sheets  into  the  coals,  and 
turning  to  Lieutenant  Fauntleroy,  commanded : 

"  Return  at  once  to  Fairfax  Court-house,  detail 
an  escort  of  half  a  dozen  good  men  under  your 
own  personal  command,  and  escort  Miss  Ronald 
to  my  headquarters.  Be  very  careful  not  to  place 
the  young  lady  under  fire  if  you  can  avoid  it.  Ride 
in  the  woods,  or  under  other  cover,  wherever  you 
can.  Remember,  you  will  have  a  lady  in  charge, 
and  must  take  no  risks." 

"  At  what  time  shall  I  report  with  Miss  Ron- 
ald?" 

"  At  her  time  —  at  whatever  time  she  shall  fix 
upon  as  most  pleasing  to  her." 

Thus  it  came  about  that  before  noon  of  the 
next  day,  in  the  midst  of  a  pouring  rain-storm, 
General  Stuart  lifted  Agatha  Ronald  from  her 
saddle,  taking  her  by  the  waist  for  that  purpose. 
He  welcomed  her  with  a  kiss  upon  her  brow, 
as  the  daughter  of  a  house  whose  hospitality  he 
had  often  enjoyed.  He  quickly  escorted  her  to 

177 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

a  little  brush  shelter  which  he  had  made  his 
men  hastily  construct  as  a  defence  for  her  against 
the  rain,  and  ordered  the  sentries  posted  full  fifty 
yards  away,  in  order  that  the  conversation  might 
by  no  chance  be  overheard. 

"  It  is  a  splendid  service,"  he  said,  when  the 
girl  had  finished  telling  him  of  her  plans.  "  But 
it  will  be  attended  by  extraordinary  danger  to  a 
young  woman  like  you." 

"  I  have  considered  all  that,  General,"  she  re- 
plied, very  seriously.  "  I  do  not  shrink  from  the 
danger." 

"  Of  course  not.  You  are  a  woman,  a  Vir- 
ginian, and  a  Ronald,  —  three  sufficient  guaran- 
tees of  courage.  But  I'm  afraid  for  you.  It  is 
a  terrible  risk  you  are  going  to  take  —  immeas- 
urably greater  in  the  case  of  a  woman  than  in 
that  of  a  man." 

"  I  have  my  wits,  General,  —  and  this,"  show- 
ing him  a  tiny  revolver.  "  With  that  a  woman  can 
always  defend  her  honour." 

"  You  mean  by  suicide  ?  " 

"  Yes  —  if  necessity  compels."  Stuart  looked 
at  the  gentle  girl,  gazing  into  her  fawn-like  brown 

178 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

eyes  as  if  trying  to  read  her  soul  in  their  depths. 
Presently  he  said: 

"  God  bless  you  and  keep  you,  dear !  I'm  going 
to  ride  back  to  Fairfax  Court-house  with  you. 
Make  yourself  as  comfortable  as  you  can  here  for 
half  an  hour,  while  I  ride  out  to  the  pickets.  I'll  be 
with  you  soon,  and  then  we'll  have  dinner,  for 
you  are  my  guest  to-day." 

When  the  dinner  was  served,  it  consisted  of 
some  ears  of  corn,  plucked  from  a  neighbouring 
field,  and  roasted  with  husks  unremoved,  among 
the  live  coals  of  the  cavalier's  camp-fire.  Stuart 
made  no  apology  for  the  lack  of  variety  in  the 
meal,  for  he  sincerely  accepted  the  doctrine  which 
he  often  preached  to  his  men,  that  "  anything 
edible  makes  a  good  enough  dinner  if  you  are 
hungry,  and  the  simpler  it  is,  the  better.  There's 
nothing  more  troublesome  in  a  campaign  than 
cooking  utensils  and  unnecessary  things  generally. 
If  armies  would  move  without  them,  there'd  be 
more  and  better  fighting  done.  The  chief  thing 
in  war  is  to  start  at  once  and  get  there  without 
delay." 

The  meal  over,  Stuart  held  out  his  hand  as 
a  step,  from  which  Agatha  lightly  sprang  into 

179 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

her  saddle.  Then  he  mounted  the  superb  gray, 
which  he  always  rode  when  battle  was  on,  or  when 
he  had  a  gentlewoman  under  his  charge.  For  there 
was  a  touch  of  the  boyish  dandy  in  Stuart,  and 
a  good  deal  more  than  a  touch  of  that  gallantry 
which  prompts  every  true  man  of  warm  blood 
to  honour  womanhood  with  every  possible  at- 
tention. 

The  horse  was  fit  for  his  rider,  and  that  is 
saying  quite  all  that  can  be  said  in  praise  of  a 
horse.  Mounted  upon  him,  Stuart  was  the  bodily 
presentment  of  all  that  painters  and  sculptors 
have  imagined  the  typical  cavalier  to  be  or  to  seem. 
Stalwart  of  figure,  erect  in  carriage,  his  muscles 
showing  themselves  in  graceful  strength  with 
every  movement  of  his  body,  his  head  carried 
like  that  of  a  boy  or  a  young  bull,  his  beard  closely 
clipped,  his  moustache  standing  out  straight  at 
the  ends,  and  resembling  that  of  Virginia's  ear- 
liest knight  errant,  Captain  John  Smith,  of  James- 
town, Stuart  was  a  picture  to  look  upon,  which 
the  onlooker  did  not  soon  forget.  His  many- 
gabled  slouch  hat  was  decorated  with  streaming 
plumes,  that  helped  to  make  of  him  a  target  for  the 
enemy's  sharpest  sharpshooters  whenever  battle 
1 80 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

was  on.  Full  of  vigour,  full  of  health,  and  full  to 
the  very  lips  of  a  boyish  enthusiasm  of  life,  he 
seemed  never  to  know  what  weariness  might 
signify,  and  never  for  one  moment  to  abate  the 
intensity  of  his  purpose.  He  did  all  things  as  if 
all  had  been  part  of  a  great  game  in  which  he  was 
playing  for  a  championship. 

On  this  occasion,  however,  his  manner  was 
subdued,  and  his  conversation  serious  in  a  degree 
unusual  to  one  of  his  effervescent  spirits.  He 
was  riding  with  Agatha  Ronald  for  the  very 
serious  purpose  of  talking  with  her  about  details 
that  must  be  carefully  arranged  with  a  view  to 
her  safety  in  the  dangerous  undertaking  upon 
which  she  was  about  to  enter.  A  word  or  two 
to  Lieutenant  Fauntleroy  sent  that  officer  with 
his  escort  squad  to  the  front,  while  Stuart  and 
his  charge  rode  in  rear. 

"  Now,  one  thing  more  is  necessary,  Miss 
Agatha,"  he  said.  "  You  ought  to  reenter  our 
country  far  to  the  west,  if  you  can,  where  there 
are  no  armies,  and  only  small  detachments.  Still, 
I  don't  know  so  well  about  that.  Here  we  keep 
the  Yankees  too  busy  at  the  front  to  attend  to 
matters  in  the  rear,  while  over  in  the  valley  they'll 

181 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

have  nothing  better  to  do  than  look  out  for  wan- 
dering women  like  you.  Anyhow,  you  may  find  it 
necessary  or  advisable  to  enter  my  lines.  In  that 
case,  you  must  be  arrested  immediately  and 
brought  to  my  headquarters.  That  is  necessary 
on  all  accounts  —  to  prevent  the  nature  of  your 
mission  from  being  discovered,  and — well,  to  pre- 
vent you  from  having  to  report  to  anybody  but 
me.  I  shall  want  to  see  you,  and  hear  all  about 
your  results.  So  I'm  going  to  give  orders  every 
day  that  will  put  every  picket-officer  on  watch  for 
you,  and  impress  every  one  of  them  with  the  idea 
that  you  are  a  peculiarly  dangerous  person,  in 
league  with  traitors  on  our  side,  and  trying  to 
put  yourself  into  communication  with  such.  I 
cannot  give  you  any  sort  of  paper,  you  see,  for 
papers  are  always  dangerous.  But  I'll  give  you 
six  words  that  will  answer  the  purpose.  When- 
ever you  speak  the  right  one  of  these  words  with 
emphasis,  the  picket-officer  will  understand  that 
you  are  the  very  dangerous  spy  whose  entrance 
into  our  lines  I  anticipate,  and  whose  arrest  I 
particularly  desire  to  secure.  I'll  give  out  one  of 
the  six  words  each  day,  particularly  charging 
officers  of  the  pickets  that  any  woman  entering 
182 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

our  lines  by  any  means,  and  using  that  word  with 
emphasis,  is  the  spy  I  want,  —  that  her  use  of 
it  will  be  intended  for  the  purpose  of  finding 
traitorous  friends,  and  that  any  such  woman,  no 
matter  upon  what  pretext  she  enters  the  lines, 
is  to  be  arrested  as  soon  as  she  uses  the  word. 
Only  one  of  these  words  will  be  given  out  each 
day,  but  you  will  know  them  all,  and  use  them 
in  succession  until  you  use  the  right  one  and  are 
arrested.  The  words  will  be  such  as  you  can 
embody  in  an  ordinary  sentence  without  exciting 
the  suspicion  of  any  of  the  men  who  may  be 
standing  by,  —  for,  of  course,  only  officers  will 
be  commissioned  to  arrest  you.  You  can  use  the 
words  in  different  sentences,  until  you  use  the 
right  one.  Then  you  will  be  arrested  and  brought 
to  my  headquarters,  where  I  hope  to  have  a  better 
dinner  than  that  of  to-day  to  offer  you." 

Just  at  that  moment,  the  road  along  which 
they  were  riding  passed  between  two  abandoned 
fields,  each  of  which  was  skirted  by  woodlands 
on  its  farther  side.  Stuart  raised  his  head  like 
a  startled  deer,  and  said: 

"  We  must  quit  the  road  here,  and  put  ourselves 

183 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

behind  that  skirt  of  timber  over  on  the  left.  Your 
horse  will  take  the  fence  easily." 

With  that  the  pair  pushed  their  animals  over 
the  rail  fence  on  the  left,  and  at  a  gallop  rode 
across  the  field  toward  a  little  strip  of  young 
chestnut  woodland  that  lay  beyond.  But  just  as 
they  reached  the  centre  of  the  field  there  came 
the  zip,  zip,  zip  of  bullets  striking  the  earth,  the 
whiz  of  bullets  passing  their  ears,  and  the  weird 
whistle  of  bullets  passing  over  them,  one  of 
which,  now  and  then,  turned  somersaults  in  its 
course,  and  produced  the  peculiar  sound  that  only 
bullets  so  misbehaving  are  capable  of  producing. 
At  the  same  moment,  the  escort  under  Lieutenant 
Fauntleroy,  who  had  been  in  front,  fell  back  to 
protect  its  charge,  as  it  was  its  duty  to  do.  Stuart 
hurriedly  said  to  the  girl : 

"  Ride  for  your  life  to  the  chestnut-trees,  and 
hide  yourself  there,  while  I  take  care  of  those 
fellows.  I'll  come  to  you  when  it's  over." 

With  that  he  turned  about,  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  little  escort  squad,  and,  swinging 
his  sabre,  as  he  always  did  in  action,  led  them 
at  a  furious  pace,  over  a  fence  and  into  the  thicket 
from  which  the  fire  was  coming.  The  few  men 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

who  were  lurking  there  were  quickly  scattered, 
and  abandoning  their  arms,  they  ran  with  all 
their  might  to  the  strong  picket-post  from  which 
they  had  been  thrown  out  to  intercept  him. 

This  done,  all  danger  of  further  trouble  was  at 
an  end,  or  would  have  been,  had  Stuart  willed 
it  so.  But  the  scent  of  battle  was  always  in  his 
nostrils.  His  men  were  accustomed  to  say  that 
he  was  always  "  looking  for  trouble,"  whenever 
there  was  the  smallest  chance  of  finding  it.  So 
instead  of  contenting  himself  with  having  dis- 
persed the  assailing  party,  he  wheeled  about  to 
the  right,  and  led  his  squad  with  the  fury  of 
Mameluke  against  the  strong  picket-post  itself. 
Amid  a  hailstorm  of  bullets  he  charged  through 
the  half-company  there  posted,  and  then,  turning 
about,  charged  back  again,  completing  the  work 
of  destruction  and  dispersal. 

It  was  not  until  this  was  over,  and  he  had  given 
the  command,  "  Trot,"  that  he  saw  Agatha  by  his 
side,  her  pistol  in  hand  and  empty  of  its  charges, 
her  hair  loosened  and  falling  in  tangled  masses 
over  her  shoulders,  her  face  aglow,  and  her  lithe 
form  as  erect  as  that  of  any  trooper  among  them 
all. 

185 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  But  my  dear  Miss  Ronald,"  Stuart  ejaculated, 
"  what  are  you  doing  here?  " 

"  Riding  under  gallant  escort,  General,  that  is 
all/' 

"  But  I  ordered  you  to  take  refuge  in  the 
timber." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  she  answered,  with  a  laughing 
challenge  in  her  eyes,  "  but  as  I  have  never  been 
mustered  in,  I'm  not  subject  to  your  orders.  You 
can't  court-martial  me,  can  you,  General  ?  " 

Stuart  looked  at  her  before  answering  —  his 
eyes  full  of  an  admiration  that  was  dimmed  by 
glad  tears.  At  last  he  leaned  over,  kissed  her  again 
upon  the  forehead,  and  said,  impressively : 

"  What  a  wife  you'll  make  for  a  soldier  some 
day!" 


1 86 


'  Riding  under  gallant  escort'  " 


XIII 

A    SOUVENIR  SERVICE 

DURING  the  rest  of  the  journey  Agatha 
was  excited  and  full  of  enthusiasm.  She 
had  participated  in  a  fight  under  the  lead 
of  the  gallantest  of  cavaliers,  and  she  had  borne 
herself  under  fire  in  a  way  that  had  won  his 
admiration.  That  admiration  found  expression 
in  a  hundred  ways,  and  chiefly  in  pressing  offers 
of  service.  Before  their  parting  he  said  to  her: 

"  Now,  my  dear  Miss  Agatha,  you  really  must 
let  me  do  you  some  favour.  I  want  to  cherish  the 
memory  of  this  day's  glorious  ride,  and  I  want 
to  render  you  some  service,  the  memory  of  which 
may  serve  as  a  souvenir.  What  shall  it  be?  " 

At  that  moment  there  came  to  Agatha's  mind 
one  of  those  inspirations  that  come  to  all  of  us 
at  times,  quite  without  consciousness  of  whence 
they  come  or  why.  She  answered : 

"  You  are  already  doing  everything  for  me, 

187 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

General.  You  have  sanctioned  an  enterprise  on 
which  I  have  set  my  heart,  and  you  have  done 
all  you  could  to  make  it  successful.  You  gave 
me  for  dinner  to-day  the  very  best  ear  of  green 
corn  that  I  ever  tasted.  You  have  personally  and 
very  gallantly  escorted  me  back  here  to  Fairfax 
Court-house,  and  on  the  way  you  have  got  up 
for  me  the  most  dramatic  bit  of  action  that  I 
ever  saw.  I  am  convinced  that  you  did  it  only 
for  my  entertainment,  and  I  am  truly  grateful." 
Then  with  a  sudden  access  of  intense  seriousness, 
she  added,  "  And  you  have  opened  a  way  to  me 
to  render  that  service  to  my  country  which  I  had 
planned.  Never,  so  long  as  you  live,  —  and  I 
hope  that  may  be  long  for  Virginia's  sake,  — 
will  you  know  or  imagine  how  great  a  service  you 
have  rendered  me  in  this.  But  you  insist  upon 
doing  more.  You  insist  that  I  shall  crave  a  boon 
at  your  hands.  Very  well ;  I  will  do  so." 

With  that  readiness  of  response  which  charac- 
terised everything  that  Stuart  did,  he  seized  the 
opportunity  offered,  and  broke  into  Agatha's  sen- 
tence with  the  answer: 

"  Of  course  I  insist.  What  is  it  that  I  may 
do?" 

1 88 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

"  I  want  you  to  secure  a  captain's  commission, 
then,  for  Sergeant-Major  Baillie  Pegram.  You 
know  all  about  his  family.  He  volunteered  as  a 
private.  He  was  promoted  to  be  sergeant-major 
by  Stonewall  Jackson's  own  request,  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  good  conduct.  He  was  terribly 
wounded  at  Manassas,  mentioned  in  general 
orders,  and  strongly  recommended  for  promo- 
tion for  gallantry  on  the  field.  My  aunts  write 
to  me  —  "  here  Agatha  fibbed  a  little,  as  a  woman 
is  permitted  to  do  under  circumstances  that  might 
otherwise  compromise  her  dignity,  for  it  was  not 
her  aunts,  but  a  highly  intelligent  negro  maid  in 
their  service  who  kept  the  young  lady  informed 
as  to  Baillie  Pegram's  condition  —  "  my  aunts 
tell  me  he  is  getting  well  again,  and  will  soon  be 
ready  for  duty." 

"  What  is  his  arm  ?  "  asked  Stuart,  eagerly. 

"  Light  artillery,"  Agatha  answered. 

"  Has  he  influence  ?  " 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Could  he  get  men  to  enlist  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course.  He's  the  master  of  War- 
lock, you  know." 

Then  with  a  little  touch  of  embarrassment,  she 

189 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

added,  "  I  mean  he  is  the  head  of  one  of  the 
great  families,  and  they  always  have  influence." 

"  O,  yes,  of  course,"  Stuart  answered.  "  I 
see  the  situation  clearly.  Will  you  say  to  Mr. 
Pegram  —  Sergeant-Major  Pegram,  I  mean  — 
that  I  have  authority  from  the  War  Department 
to  raise  three  companies  of  flying  artillery,  with 
the  men  all  mounted,  to  serve  with  the  cavalry, 
and  that  if  he  can  form  such  a  company,  — 
of  fifty  or  seventy-five  men,  or  better  still  a 
hundred  men  — 1 1  will  secure  him  a  captain's 
commission  with  authority  to  do  so  ?  " 

"  But,  General,"  said  the  girl,  quickly,  and  in 
manifest  fright,  "  I  do  not  correspond  with  Mr. 
Pegram.  In  fact  we  are  very  nearly  strangers." 

"  O,  I  see,"  answered  the  cavalier,  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eyes.  "  How  long  has  it  been  since 
you  and  this  gallant  young  gentleman  arranged 
to  be  '  very  nearly  strangers  ?  ' 

"  O,  you  entirely  mistake,  General,"  the  girl 
quickly  answered.  "  Really  and  truly  I  never 
knew  Mr.  Pegram  very  well ;  but  he  wore  a  red 
feather  of  mine  at  the  battle  of  Manassas,  and 
afterward  he  sent  it  back  to  me  and  —  well,  any- 
how he  proved  his  gallantry  and  he  really  ought 
IQO 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

to  be  something  more  than  a  sergeant-major,  don't 
you  think  ?  " 

For  answer  Stuart  made  a  sweeping  bow,  re- 
moving his  hat  and  saying :  "  Concerning  Ser- 
geant-Major Baillie  Pegram,  I  think  whatever 
you  think.  Anyhow,  as  he  had  the  good  taste  to 
wear  your  red  feather,  and  as  he  has  fought  well 
enough  to  secure  a  wound  and  a  mention  in 
general  orders  and  your  personal  approval,  he 
shall  be  a  captain  if  he  wants  to  be.  Give  me 
his  address,  and  you  need  not  have  any  corre- 
spondence with  him." 

"  I'll  write  it,"  she  answered,  "  if  you'll  excuse 
me  for  a  moment,"  and  with  that  she  retired 
within  doors  —  for  they  had  been  standing  in 
the  porch  —  in  a  rage  of  vexation  with  herself. 
She  hastily  sponged  off  her  inflamed  face  with 
cold  water,  dried  it,  and  loosely  twisted  up  her 
errant  hair,  which  had  run  riot  over  her  neck 
and  shoulders  ever  since  the  little  encounter  with 
the  enemy.  Then  she  scribbled  Baillie  Pegram's 
Warlock  address  on  a  scrap  of  paper  and  returned 
to  Stuart's  presence,  with  the  mien  and  bearing 
of  a  queen. 

The  cavalier's  face  was  rippling  all  over  with 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

smiles  as  he  bade  her  adieu,  wished  her  Godspeed 
in  her  enterprise,  and  turned  away.    At  the  steps 
he  faced  about,  and  advancing  said  to  her : 
"  When  do  you  wish  to  return  to  Fauquier?  " 
"  I  shall  go  home  to-morrow  morning,"  she 
answered. 

"  You  travel  in  your  own  carriage,  of  course  ?  " 
"  Yes,  and  my  maid  is  with  me." 
"  Very  well,"   he  answered.     "  At  sunrise  a 
platoon  under  command  of  a  trusty  officer  will 
report  here  and  serve  as  your  escort." 

"  But,  General,  surely  that  is  not  necessary." 

"  Not   necessary,   perhaps,"   was   the   answer, 

"  but  it  pleases  me  to  have  it  so,  and  you'll  indulge 

my  fancy,  I  am  sure.    I  hope  to  have  you  as  my 

prisoner  before  many  moons  have  passed." 

She  understood,  and  with  a  rippling  smile  she 
replied : 

"  Thank  you,  and  good-bye.  I  shall  certainly 
enjoy  my  next  ear  of  green  corn  if  I  am  permitted 
to  take  it  in  your  company,  under  some  tree  that 
you  have  honoured  by  making  it  your  head- 
quarters." 

"  O,  my  ravenous  cavalrymen  will  have  eaten 
up  all  the  green  corn  long  before  that  time;   but 
192 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

I'll  give  you  a  dinner  if  I  have  to  raid  a  Federal 
picket-post  to  get  it." 

With  that  he  sprang  into  his  saddle,  waved  a 
farewell,  and  rode  away  singing: 

"If  you  want  to  have  a  good  time, 
Jine  the  cavalry, 
Jine  the  cavalry, 
Jine  the  cavalry, 

If  you  want  to  have  a  good  time, 
Jine  the  cavalry, 
Jine  the  cav-al-ry." 

It  was  Stuart's  boast  at  that  time  that  he  knew 
the  face  and  name  of  every  man  in  his  old  first 
regiment,  and  he  afterward  extended  this  boast 
to  include  all  the  men  in  the  first  brigade  of 
Virginia  Cavalry.  He  used  to  say :  "  I  ought 
to  remember  those  fellows;  they  made  me  a 
major-general." 

But  however  well  Stuart  knew  his  men,  with 
whom  he  fraternised  in  a  way  very  unusual  to 
most  officers  bred  in  the  regular  army,  as  he  had 
been,  nobody  ever  pretended  to  know  him  well 
^enough  to  guess  with  any  accuracy  what  he  would 
do  next  under  any  given  circumstances.  On  this 
occasion  he  had  not  brought  his  staff  with  him, 
but  that  made  small  difference  with  an  officer  of 

193 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

his  temper,  whose  habit  of  mind  it  was  to  dis- 
regard forms  and  ceremonies,  and  to  go  straight 
to  his  purpose,  whatever  it  might  happen  to  be. 
When  he  left  Agatha,  he  rode  at  once  to  the 
camp  of  a  detached  company  and  asked  for  its 
captain.  To  him  he  said: 

"  Send  couriers  to  all  the  cavalry  camps,  and 
say  that  General  Stuart  orders  the  entire  force 
to  report  in  front  at  once." 

He  designated  three  roads  and  four  bridle- 
paths by  which  the  commands  were  to  move ;  and 
three  or  four  points  of  rendezvous.  Then  he 
added : 

"  Let  the  men  move  light  —  no  baggage  or 
blankets  or  anything  else  but  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion." 

A  moment  later  he  met  Colonel  Fitzhugh  Lee, 
who  had  succeeded  him  in  command  of  the  old 
first  regiment,  —  "  my  Mamelukes,"  as  Stuart 
loved  to  call  them.  The  two  grasped  hands,  and 
Stuart  said :  "  I've  ordered  everybody  to  the 
front.  You  are  to  take  command  on  the  left^. 
We  must  drive  the  Federal  pickets  back  from  all 
their  advanced  posts.  They  are  growing  impu- 
dent. They  fired  at  a  lady  under  my  personal 
194 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

escort  to-day.  We  must  teach  them  not  to  repeat 
that." 

Of  course  the  men  who  had  done  the  firing 
in  question  had  no  means  of  knowing  that  there 
was  a  woman  among  the  assailed,  and  Stuart 
knew  the  fact  very  well.  But  he  chose  to  regard 
whatever  happened  as  something  intended. 

Turning  from  Lee,  he  galloped  to  the  camp  of 
some  batteries,  and  said  to  the  officer  in  command : 

"  I  wish  you'd  lend  me  a  couple  of  guns  or  so 
for  the  afternoon.  I've  some  work  to  do.  Send 
them  out  along  the  Falls  Church  road.  I'll  not 
have  to  go  borrowing  guns  after  a  little  while. 
I'll  have  some  mounted  batteries  of  my  own." 

The  officer  addressed  issued  the  necessary 
orders  as  quietly  as  a  gentleman  in  his  own  house 
might  bid  a  servant  bring  a  glass  of  water  for  a 
thirsty  guest.  No  questions  were  asked  on  either 
side,  and  no  explanations  offered.  It  is  not  the 
military  fashion  to  ask  unnecessary  questions  or 
to  give  needless  explanations. 

By  this  time  the  cavalry  regiments  were 
streaming  by  on  their  hurried  way  to  the  front, 
saluting  Stuart  as  they  passed,  and  now  and  then 
cheering,  as  they  were  apt  to  do  when  they  saw 

195 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

their  gallant  leader.  He  in  his  turn  nodded  and 
bowed  in  acknowledgment,  and  now  and  then 
called  out  a  cheery  word  of  greeting.  He  would 
be  at  the  head  of  all  these  fellows  presently,  and 
they  knew  that  "  the  performance  would  not 
begin,"  as  they  were  in  the  habit  of  saying,  till 
he  should  be  there  to  lead.  But  meanwhile  he 
had  something  else  to  attend  to,  for  Stuart  never 
forgot  anything  that  he  wanted  to  remember, 
however  engrossingly  he  might  be  engaged  with 
other  affairs.  Riding  up  to  a  tent  before  which 
Colonel  Field  was  standing  awaiting  his  horse, 
he  asked: 

"Is  your  adjutant  with  you,  Field?" 

"  No  —  he  has  gone  on  with  orders,  but  his 
orderly  is  here,  General." 

"  That  will  do  as  well."  Then  turning  to  the 
orderly,  who  had  appeared,  he  said: 

"  Take  down  a  paper  from  dictation,  please. 
When  it  is  written  out,  bring  it  to  me  at  the  front 
for  signature." 

The  dictation  was  as  follows : 

"  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  commanding  the 
cavalry,  respectfully  reports  that  in  pursuance  of 
the  authorisation  of  the  War  Department,  he  has 
196 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

selected  Sergeant-Major  Baillie  Pegram,  of 's 

battery,  as  one  of  the  persons  to  be  commissioned 
captain  of  artillery  and  authorised  to  raise  a 
mounted  battery  to  serve  with  the  cavalry.  Gen- 
eral Stuart  begs  to  report  that  Sergeant-Ma j or 
Pegram's  character  and  qualifications  are  abun- 
dantly certified,  and  that  he  has  already  been  men- 
tioned in  general  orders  and  recommended  for 
promotion  for  conspicuous  gallantry  in  the  battle 
of  Manassas.  He  is  at  present  at  his  home, 
recovering  from  a  severe  wound  received  in  that 
action.  All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted." 

"  There !  "  said  Stuart,  when  the  dictation  was 
done.  "  Write  that  out,  fold  and  indorse  it 
properly,  and  bring  it  to  me  at  the  front  for 
signature.  Then  forward  it  through  the  regular 
channels." 

Then  Stuart  put  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  gal- 
loped to  the  front.  There  he  made  hurried  dis- 
position of  the  various  commands,  and  half  an 
hour  later  hurled  his  whole  force  precipitately 
upon  all  the  Federal  outposts  on  the  ten-mile  line. 
The  onset  was  sudden  and  resistless,  and  within 
a  brief  while  every  picket-post  of  the  enemy  was 

197 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

abandoned,  and  a  new  line  of  observation  estab- 
lished many  miles  nearer  to  Washington  City. 

With  that  tireless  energy  and  that  sleepless 
vigilance  in  attention  to  details  which  always  char- 
acterised the  conduct  of  this  typical  chevalier,  Stu- 
art spent  the  entire  night  following  this  day's  work 
in  visiting  his  new  outposts,  from  one  end  of 
the  line  to  the  other.  Yet  when  morning  came 
he  breakfasted  upon  an  ear  of  raw  corn  and  a 
laugh,  and  rode  on  to  Munson's  Hill  to  learn 
what  signals  had  been  received  from  his  agents 
in  Washington  during  the  night. 


198 


XIV 

QUICK  WORK 

IT  was  a  warm,  soft  day  in  autumn,  joyous 
in  its  sunshine,  sad  in  its  suggestions  of  the 
year's  decay.  Baillie  Pegram,  now  nearly  well 
again,  but  still  lacking  strength,  was  lolling  on 
the  closely  clipped  sward  under  one  of  the  great 
trees  at  Warlock,  chatting  disjointedly  with  Mar- 
shall Pollard,  who  had  got  away  again  on  a  few 
days'  leave  of  absence,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting 
his  friend.  Baillie  had  already  written  to  his  cap- 
tain, reporting  himself  as  nearly  well  again, 
expressing  regret  at  his  long  absence  from  duty, 
and  announcing  his  purpose  of  rejoining  the  bat- 
tery within  a  week  or  ten  days  at  furthest  —  "  at 
the  earliest  time,"  he  said,  "  when  I  can  persuade 
the  surgeons  to  release  me  from  their  clutches." 
This  was  likely,  therefore,  to  be  the  last  meeting 
between  the  two  friends  for  many  moons  to  come. 
"  Tell  me  about  yourself,  old  fellow,"  said 

199 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Baillie,  after  a  pause  in  the  conversation.  "  How 
do  you  like  your  service  in  that  battery  of  ruf- 
fians?" 

"  Thoroughly  well.  They're  not  half-bad 
fellows  when  kept  under  military  discipline,  and 
I've  enjoyed  studying  them  psychologically.  I'm 
convinced  that  the  only  reason  society  has  failed 
so  consummately  in  its  attempts  to  deal  with  the 
criminal  class  is  that  it  hasn't  taken  pains  to 
understand  them  or  find  out  their  point  of  view. 
We  really  haven't  taken  pains  enough  even  to 
classify  them,  or  to  find  out  the  differences  there 
are  among  them.  We  class  them  all  together  — 
all  who  violate  the  law  —  and  call  them  crimi- 
nals, and  proceed  to  deal  with  them  as  if  they 
were  a  totally  different  species  from  ourselves, 
whereas,  in  point  of  fact,  they  are  '  men  like  unto 
ourselves,'  with  like  passions  and  desires  and 
impulses.  The  only  real  difference  is  that  circum- 
stances and  education  and  association  have  taught 
us  to  curb  our  passions  and  hold  our  impulses  in 
check,  while  they  have  run  wild,  obeying  those 
instincts  which  are  born  in  all  of  us. 

"  They  are  usually  very  generous  fellows  — 
impulsive,  affectionate,  and  loyal  to  such  friend- 
20O 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

ships  as  they  know.  If  you  discovered  any  wrong 
being  done  to  me,  or  heard  any  unjust  accusa- 
tion made  against  me,  you'd  resist  and  resent 
instantly.  But  you'd  know  precisely  how  far  and 
in  what  direction  to  carry  your  resentment,  while 
these  fellows  do  not  know  anything  except  the 
instincts  of  a  righteous  wrath.  There  isn't  a 
man  in  Skinner's  Battery  who  wouldn't  be  quick 
to  stand  for  me  and  by  me.  But  in  doing  so 
he  would  calmly  kill  the  man  who  injured  me, 
and  never  be  able  to  understand  why  he  must  be 
hanged  for  doing  so. 

"  Most  of  them  have  been  made  hardened 
criminals  solely  by  society's  blundering  way  of 
dealing  with  them.  It  has  sent  them  to  jail, 
for  small  first  offences,  committed  in  ignorance 
perhaps.  It  has  thus  declared  war  upon  them, 
and  with  the  instincts  of  manhood  they  have 
taken  up  the  gage  of  battle.  In  other  words,  it  is 
my  sincere  belief  that  quite  nine  in  ten  of  the 
criminal  class  are  criminal  only  because  of 
society's  neglect  at  first  and  blundering  after- 
ward. They  need  education  and  discipline;  we 
give  them  resentful  punishment  instead,  and  there 
is  a  world  of  difference  between  the  two  things. 

2O I 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  However,  I  did  not  mean  to  deliver  a  lecture 
on  penology.  And  after  all  I  am  no  longer  one 
of  the  ruffians,  you  know.  All  the  officers  of 
the  battery  are  gentlemen,  while  none  of  the  men 
happens  to  be  anything  of  the  kind.  There  is, 
therefore,  as  sharp  a  line  of  demarcation  drawn 
in  our  battery,  between  officers  and  enlisted  men, 
as  there  is  in  any  regular  army.  This  makes 
things  pleasant  for  the  officers,  and  I  fancy  they 
are  not  unpleasant  for  the  men.  It  is  a  case  of 
aristocracy  where  the  upper  class  enjoys  itself 
and  the  lower  class  is  content.  It  is  quite  differ- 
ent from  service  in  an  ordinary  Confederate  com- 
pany of  volunteers.  There  the  enlisted  men  are 
socially  quite  as  good  as  their  officers  and  some- 
times distinctly  better.  Under  such  circumstances 
it  is  difficult  to  maintain  more  of  distinction  and 
discipline  than  the  enlisted  men  may  voluntarily 
consent  to.  Socially,  with  us  Southern  people,  it 
is  quite  as  honourable  to  be  an  enlisted  man  in 
such  a  battery  as  yours  as  to  be  a  commissioned 
officer.  That's  a  good  enough  thing  in  its  way, 
but  it  isn't  military,  and  it  is  distinctly  bad  for 
the  service." 

"  I  don't  know  so  well  about  that,"  said  Baillie. 
2O2 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  We  have  at  least  the  advantage  of  knowing  that, 
discipline  or  no  discipline,  every  man  in  the  ranks, 
equally  with  every  officer,  has  a  personal  reputa- 
tion at  home  to  sustain  by  good  conduct.  Even 
your  desperadoes  couldn't  fight  better  than  the 
young  fellows  I  had  with  me  on  the  skirmish-line 
at  Manassas,  though  they  had  never  had  anything 
resembling  discipline  to  sustain  them.  Every 
man  of  them  knew  that  if  he  '  flunked '  he  could 
never  go  home  again  —  unless  all  flunked  at  once 
and  so  kept  each  other  company.  That  very 
nearly  happened  while  we  were  falling  back 
across  Bull  Run." 

"  Precisely.  And  it  happened  to  the  whole 
Federal  army  a  few  hours  later.  Discipline,  with 
a  ready  pistol-shot  behind  it,  would  have  pre- 
vented that  in  both  cases.  '  Man's  a  queer  ani- 
mal/ you  know,  if  you  remember  your  reading, 
and  one  of  the  queerest  things  about  him  is  that 
when  he  has  once  accustomed  himself  to  accept 
orders  unquestioningly,  and  to  obey  them  blindly, 
as  every  soldier  does  in  drilling,  he  becomes  far 
more  afraid  of  mere  orders  than  he  is  of  the 
heaviest  fire.  Personal  courage  and  high  spirit 
among  the  men  are  admirable  in  their  way,  but 

203 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

for  the  purposes  of  battle,  discipline  and  the  habit 
of  blind  obedience  are  very  much  more  trust- 
worthy. If  you  want  to  make  soldiers  of  men, 
you  must  teach  them,  morning,  noon,  and  night, 
that  blind,  unquestioning  obedience  is  the  only 
virtue  they  can  cultivate.  That  isn't  good  for  the 
personal  characters  of  the  men,  of  course,  but  it  is 
necessary  in  the  case  of  soldiers,  and  our  volun- 
teers will  all  of  them  have  to  learn  the  lesson  be- 
fore this  war  is  over.  More's  the  pity,  for  I  can't 
imagine  how  a  whole  nation  of  men  so  trained 
to  submission  can  ever  again  become  a  nation 
of  —  oh,  confound  it !  I'm  running  off  again  into 
a  psychological  speculation.  Fortunately,  here 
comes  a  letter  for  you." 

A  servant  approached,  bearing  upon  a  tray  a 
missive  from  The  Oaks  ladies,  which  had  been 
delivered  at  the  house  a  few  minutes  earlier.  The 
grand  dames  assured  Mr.  Baillie  Pegram  of 
their  highest  respect  and  esteem,  but  suggested 
that,  to  the  very  great  satisfaction  of  the  anxiety 
they  had  so  long  felt  on  his  account,  they  were 
convinced  by  his  assurances  to  that  effect,  that  he 
was  now  so  far  advanced  on  the  road  to  complete 
recovery  as  perhaps  to  excuse  them  from  the 
204 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

necessity  of  making  their  thrice  a  week  journey  to 
Warlock  to  inquire  concerning  his  welfare.  If 
they  were  mistaken  in  this  assumption,  would  not 
Mr.  Baillie  Pegram  kindly  notify  them?  And  if 
the  daily  inquiries  which  they  intended  to  make 
hereafter  through  a  trusty  servant,  should  at  any 
moment  bring  to  them  news  of  a  relapse,  they 
would  instantly  resume  their  personal  and  most 
solicitous  inquiries. 

To  this  Baillie  laughingly  wrote  a  reply  equally 
formal,  in  which  he  assured  the  good  ladies  that 
their  tender  concern  for  him  during  his  illness 
had  been  a  chief  factor  in  a  recovery  which  was 
now  practically  complete. 

Meantime  Sam  had  come  with  the  mail-pouch 
from  the  post-office,  and  it  held  two  letters  for 
Baillie. 

One  of  these  was  a  formal  and  official  com- 
munication from  the  War  Department,  inform- 
ing him  that  upon  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart's  rec- 
ommendation, he  had  been  appointed  captain  of 
artillery  with  authority  to  raise  a  mounted  battery 
of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  men,  for  service  with 
the  cavalry.  His  commission,  dating  from  the 
day  of  his  wound  at  Manassas,  accompanied  the 

205 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

document,  and  with  it  an  order  for  him  to  pro- 
ceed, as  soon  as  he  should  be  fit  for  service,  to 
enlist  and  organise  the  company  thus  authorised, 
and  to  make  the  proper  requisitions  for  arms  and 
equipments. 

Baillie's  second  letter  was  a  personal  one  from 
Stuart.  It  was  scribbled  in  pencil  on  the  envel- 
opes of  some  old  letters  and  such  other  fragments 
of  paper  as  the  cavalier  could  command  at  some 
picket-post.  It  read: 

"  I  have  asked  the  War  Department  to  com- 
mission you  as  a  captain,  to  raise  a  company  of 
mounted  artillery  to  serve  with  me  in  front.  I 
understand  that  you  have  a  healthy  liking  for  the 
front.  The  War  Department  lets  me  choose  my 
own  men  for  this  service,  and  I  have  chosen  you 
first,  for  several  reasons.  One  is  that  you  know 
what  to  do  with  a  gun.  Another  is  that  you 
fought  so  well  at  Manassas.  Another  is  that  you 
are  very  strongly  recommended  to  me  by  a  person 
whose  judgment  is  absolutely  conclusive  to  my 
mind. 

"  Now  get  to  work  as  quickly  as  you  can. 
Enrol  fifty  or  seventy-five,  or  better  still  a  hun- 
dred men  if  you  can  find  them.  Put  them  in 
206 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

camp  and  instruct  them,  and  report  to  me  the 
moment  you  are  ready.  Make  requisition  for 
guns  —  six  of  them  if  you  can  secure  a  hundred 
men  —  and  drill  your  men  at  the  piece.  For 
a  hundred  men  in  mounted  artillery  you  will  need 
about  170  horses  —  100  for  the  cannoniers  to  ride 
and  70  for  the  guns,  etc.  There  is  likely  to  be 
your  difficulty.  Can't  you  help  yourself  out  a 
bit?  I  am  told  that  you  have  influence.  Can't 
you  persuade  your  neighbours  to  contribute  some 
at  least  of  the  horses  you  need  ?  The  quicker  your 
battery  is  horsed  the  quicker  you'll  get  a  chance 
to  practise  your  men  in  gunnery  with  the 
enemy  for  a  target.  Please  send  me  a  personal 
line,  telling  me  how  soon  you  will  be  ready  to 
join  me.  It  will  take  a  month  or  two,  of  course, 
but  I  hope  it  won't  take  more." 

Twelve   hours   later   Baillie   Pegram   sent  an 
answer  to  General  Stuart's  letter.    In  it  he  said : 

"  Thank  you.  I'll  have  the  men  and  the  horses 
within  twenty-four  hours.  If  the  guns  are 
promptly  forthcoming  on  my  requisition,  I'll  be 
ready  within  two  days  to  receive  orders  to  join 
you.  As  for  drill,  I  can  attend  to  that  in  front 
/ 

207 


• 

The     Master    of    Warlock 

of  Washington  as  well  as  in  camp  of  instruction 
at  Richmond." 

But  before  sending  that  note,  which  delighted 
Stuart's  soul  when  it  came,  Baillie  Pegram  had 
done  a  world  of  earnest  work. 

First  of  all  there  was  the  problem  of  getting 
the  men.  The  able-bodied  citizens  of  the  county 
had  already  volunteered  for  the  most  part,  but 
some  were  still  waiting  for  one  reason  or  an- 
other, and  Baillie,  who  knew  everybody,  sent 
hurried  notes  to  all  of  these,  by  special  negro 
messengers,  asking  each  to  send  an  immediate 
reply  to  him  at  the  Court-house.  On  this  service 
he  employed  all  his  young  negroes,  mounting 
them  on  all  his  mules.  The  men  appealed  to 
responded  almost  to  a  man,  for  the  master  of 
Warlock  was  a  man  under  whose  command  his 
neighbours  eagerly  wanted  to  serve,  and  Baillie 
found  more  than  half  of  them  awaiting  him 
at  the  county  seat,  when  he  got  there  in  mid- 
afternoon. 

Still  better,  he  found  a  messenger  there  from 

one  of  the  men  whom  he  had  summoned.     This 

messenger  came  from  a  camp  at  a  little  distance, 

where  were  assembled  about  sixty  or  seventy  men 

208 


The      Master    of    Warlock 

and  boys  peculiarly  situated.  These  men  and 
boys  had  belonged  to  a  company  composed  mainly 
of  college  students,  which  had  gone  out  with  the 
earliest  volunteers.  The  company  had  been  cap- 
tured at  Rich  Mountain,  and  the  men  composing 
it  had  been  sent  home  on  parole.  Within  the 
two  days  preceding  Baillie  Pegram's  call  for 
volunteers,  official  notification  had  come  of  the 
discharge  of  all  these  men  from  parole  by  virtue 
of  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  Thereupon  the  men, 
thus  left  free  to  volunteer  again,  had  met  in 
camp  to  consider  what  should  be  done.  Their 
company  had  been  officially  disbanded,  and  there 
were  now  not  enough  of  them  left  to  secure  its 
reorganisation.  When  Baillie  Pegram's  call  for 
volunteers  came,  therefore,  the  men  were  called 
together,  and  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution,  unani- 
mously adopted,  a  messenger  was  sent  to  the 
Court-house  to  say  that  sixty-two  men  of  the 
disbanded  company  offered  themselves  for  enrol- 
ment under  Captain  Pegram,  and  that  they  would 
report  for  duty  on  the  following  morning  at  the 
Court-house. 

Thus  before  four  o'clock  Baillie  was  assured  of 
his  hundred  men  or  more.     The  next  problem 

209 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

was  to  secure  horses.  He  called  together  such  of 
his  men  as  were  present,  and  said: 

"  Each  of  you  is  mounted.  We  shall  need  your 
horses.  The  government  will  have  them  valued, 
and  will  pay  the  assessed  price  for  any  that  may 
die  in  the  service.  It  will  pay  monthly  for  their 
services.  How  many  of  you  will  enlist  your 
horses  as  well  as  yourselves,  as  all  our  cavalry- 
men have  done?" 

The  response  was  general,  and  many  of  the 
planters  offered  additional  horses  on  the  same 
terms,  so  that,  before  night  fell  Baillie  Pegram 
had  more  than  a  hundred  men  and  about  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty  horses  secured.  Forty  or  fifty 
more  horses  must  be  had,  but  Baillie  knew  how 
to  secure  them,  and  so  he  sent  off  his  note  to 
Stuart.  Then  he  turned  to  Marshall  Pollard,  and 
said: 

"I  want  you  to  go  to  Richmond  by  the  midnight 
train,  old  fellow,  and  return  by  the  noonday  train 
to-morrow.  I've  a  mind  to  complete  this  business 
at  a  stroke.  I've  a  few  thousand  dollars  in  bank 
and  a  few  thousand  more  in  the  hands  of  my 
commission  merchant.  The  money  is  worth  its 
face  now.  Heaven  only  knows  what  it  will  be 
2IO 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

worth  a  year  hence.  I'm  going  to  spend  it  now 
for  the  rest  of  the  horses  I  need,  and  I  want  you 
to  go  to  Richmond  and  bring  it  to  me.  In  the 
meanwhile  I'll  bargain  with  a  drover  who  is  not 
very  far  away,  for  the  horses." 

Then,  weak  as  he  was,  Baillie  planned  to  ride 
the  dozen  miles  that  lay  between  the  Court-house 
and  the  point  where  the  drover  was  camping  with 
his  horses,  but  one  of  his  friends,  who  had  just 
enlisted  with  him,  bade  him  to  go  to  the  tavern 
and  to  bed,  saying: 

"  I'll  have  the  drover  and  his  horses  here  before 
noon  to-morrow,  and  I  shall  know  something 
about  the  horses  by  that  time,  too,  for  I'll  come 
back  in  company  with  them,  and  I'll  keep  my  eyes 
open." 

No  sooner  was  Baillie  comfortably  stretched 
upon  a  lounge  in  his  hotel  room,  than  Sam  pre- 
sented himself. 

"  Mas'  Baillie,"  the  negro  boy  broke  in,  without 
waiting  for  his  master  to  ask  how  he  came  to  be 
there,  "  Mas'  Baillie,  you's  a-gwine  to  be  one  o' 
de  officers  now,  jes'  as  you  ought  to  ha'  been 
fust  off.  Now  you'll  need  Sam  wid  you,  won't 
you?" 

211 


The     Master    of     Warlock 

"  I'll  need  somebody,  I  suppose,"  the  young  man 
answered,  with  a  laugh  at  Sam's  enthusiasm, 
"  but  if  I  take  you  along  where  I  am  going, 
you'll  stand  a  mighty  good  chance  of  getting  a 
bullet-hole  through  you,  or  having  your  black 
head  knocked  off  your  shoulders  by  a  shell. 
Have  you  thought  of  that  ?  " 

"  Co'se  I'se  thought  o'  dat,  an'  I  ain't  de  leas' 
bit  afeard  nuther.  I'se  a  Pegram  nigga  from 
Warlock,  I  is,  an'  a  Pegram  nigga  from  Warlock 
ain't  got  no  more  business  to  be  afeared  o'  bullets 
when  his  duty  brings  'em  in  his  way,  dan  a  white 
folks 'Pegram  hisself  is.  Ef  ye'll  jes'  take  Sam 
along  of  you,  you  sha'n't  never  have  no  'casion 
to  be  shamed  o'  yer  servant." 

"  Very  well,  Sam,"  answered  the  master ;  "  now 
go  back  to  Warlock,  and  tell  your  mammy  you're 
going  to  the  war.  By  the  way,  you  may  have 
that  old  velveteen  and  corduroy  hunting  suit  of 
mine  to  wear.  Get  it  from  the  closet  in  the 
chamber,  and  tell  your  mammy  to  shorten  the 
trousers  legs  by  seven  or  eight  inches." 

Sam  was  fairly  dancing  for  joy,  and  as  he 
mounted  his  mule  for  the  homeward  journey,  he 
began  to  sing  a  dismal  ditty  which  he  had  com- 
212 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

posed  as  an  expression  of  his  feelings  at  the  time 
of  his  master's  first  departure  from  Warlock  to 
serve  as  a  soldier.  Unhappily  only  a  fragment 
of  the  song  remains  to  us.  It  began : 

"  Dey  ain't  no  sun  in  de  mawning, 

Dey  ain't  no  moon  shine  in  de  night, 
'Case  the  war's  done  come  an'  de  mahstah's  done  gone, 
Fer  to  git  hisse'f  killed  in  de  fight. 

"  Oh,  Moses ! 
Holy  Moses ! 

Can't  you  come  back  'cross  de  ribber? 
Can't  you  let  Gabrel  blow  his  horn  ?  " 

What  lines  were  to  follow,  and  what  words 
rhymed  with  "  ribber  "  and  "  horn,"  we  are  not 
permitted  to  know.  For  at  this  point,  Sam,  whose 
self-education  included  a  considerable  proficiency 
in  profanity,  broke  off  his  singing,  reined  in  his 
mule,  and  said: 

"  Dat's  too  dam  dismal  fer  de  'casion !  "  Then 
addressing  the  mule,  he  reproachfully  asked: 

"  What  for  you  done  let  me  sing  dat  ?  Don* 
you  know  Sam's  a-gwine  to  de  wah  wid  Mas' 
Baillie?" 

As  the  mule  made  no  reply,  the  conversation 
ceased  at  this  point,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
homeward  journey  was  made  in  complete  silence. 

213 


XV 

AGATHA'S  VENTURE 

AFTER  a  month  or  two  of  cautious  corre- 
spondence with  friends  and  others  who 
were  to  aid  her  in  carrying  out  her  pur- 
pose, Agatha  Ronald  set  out  one  day,  and  drove 
with  Martha,  her  maid,  to  Winchester,  where  she 
had  friends.    After  a  week's  stay  there,  she  made 
her  way  to  a  little  town  on  the  Potomac,  again 
taking  up  quarters  with  friends. 

From  this  point,  she  communicated  through 
her  friends  with  intimates  of  theirs  who  lived 
in  Maryland.  Finally  she  had  arrangements 
made  by  which  a  succession  of  houses  was  open 
to  her,  all  of  them  the  homes  of  people  strongly 
in  sympathy  with  the  South.  But  she  must  first 
manage  to  get  through  the  Federal  lines  unob- 
served, and  in  this  a  Federal  commander  unwit- 
tingly aided  her.  He  threw  a  small  force  one 
day  into  the  little  town  in  which  she  was  staying, 
214 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

meaning  to  hold  possession  of  it  as  a  part  of  the 
loosely  drawn  lines  on  the  upper  river.  This  left 
Agatha  within  Federal  domain  —  a  young  gen- 
tlewoman visiting  friends,  and  in  no  way  attract- 
ing attention  to  herself.  Presently  she  moved 
on  into  Maryland,  and  by  short  stages  made  her 
way  to  the  house  of  a  very  ardent  Southern  fam- 
ily, near  the  Pennsylvania  border.  From  there 
it  was  easy  for  her  to  go  to  Harrisburg,  and 
thence  by  rail  to  Baltimore. 

The  chief  purpose  of  her  journey  was  now 
practically  accomplished.  She  had  established 
what  she  called  her  "  underground  railroad,"  with 
a  multitude  of  stations,  and  a  very  roundabout 
route.  But  it  would  serve  its  purpose  all  the  better 
for  that,  she  thought,  as  the  chief  condition  of  its 
successful  operation  was  that  its  existence  should 
at  no  time  be  suspected. 

In  Baltimore,  proceeding  with  the  utmost  cau- 
tion, she  put  herself  into  indirect  communica- 
tion with  a  large  number  of  "  Dixie  girls  "  —  as 
young  women  in  that  city  whose  hearts  were 
with  the  South  were  called.  It  would  not  do  for 
her  to  meet  these  young  women  personally.  That 
might  excite  suspicion,  especially  as  most  of  them 

215 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

had  brothers  in  the  Southern  army.  But  through 
others  she  succeeded  in  organising  them  secretly 
into  a  band  prepared  to  do  her  work. 

That  work  was  the  purchase  of  medicines  — 
chiefly  morphine  and  quinine  —  and  the  smug- 
gling of  them  through  the  lines  into  the  Confed- 
eracy for  the  use  of  the  armies  there.  For  it  is  one 
of  the  barbarisms  of  war  which  civilisation  has  not 
yet  outgrown,  that  medicines,  even  those  which  are 
imperatively  necessary  for  the  saving  of  life  and 
the  prevention  of  suffering,  are  held  to  be  as 
strictly  contraband  as  gunpowder  itself  is. 

Agatha's  plan  was  to  have  her  associates  in 
Baltimore  purchase  medicines  and  surgical  appli- 
ances in  that  city  and  elsewhere  —  buying  only 
in  small  quantities  in  each  case,  in  order  to  avoid 
suspicion,  but  buying  large  quantities  in  the  ag- 
gregate —  and  forward  them  to  her  in  Virginia 
by  way  of  her  underground  railroad;  that  is  to 
say,  passing  them  from  hand  to  hand  over  the 
route  by  which  she  had  herself  reached  Baltimore. 

Having  perfected  these  arrangements,  her  next 

task  was  herself  to  get  back  to  her  home,  whither 

she  did  not  mean  to  go  empty-handed.     She  had 

gowns  made  for  herself  and  Martha,  using  two 

2l6 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

thicknesses  of  oiled  silk  as  interlining.  Between 
these  she  bestowed  as  much  morphia  as  could  be 
placed  there  without  attracting  attention. 

This  done,  she  was  ready  for  her  return  jour- 
ney, which  presented  extraordinary  difficulty.  She 
could  not  return  by  the  way  she  had  come,  lest  the 
purpose  of  her  journey  should  be  discovered,  and 
her  plans  for  the  future  be  thwarted.  She  must 
find  some  other  way. 

At  first  she  thought  of  making  her  way  south- 
ward to  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Potomac,  and 
depending  upon  chance  for  means  of  getting 
across  the  river  there,  but  this  was  rendered  im- 
practicable by  the  news  that  the  Confederates  had 
retired  from  their  advanced  outposts  to  Ma- 
nassas  and  Centreville,  with  the  Fairfax  Court- 
house line  as  their  extreme  advance  position.  This 
meant,  of  course,  that  they  no  longer  held  in 
any  considerable  force  the  posts  along  the  lower 
river.  Moreover,  Agatha  learned  that  both  the 
Potomac  below  Washington,  and  the  navigable 
part  of  the  Rappahannock  were  closely  patrolled 
now,  by  night  and  by  day,  by  a  numerous  fleet  of 
big  and  little  Federal  war-ships.  There  seemed  no 
course  open  to  her  but  to  try  in  some  way  to  get 

217 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

through  to  Stuart's  pickets,  if  in  any  way  or  at 
any  risk  she  could  manage  that.  That  she  deter- 
mined to  attempt. 

Her  first  step  was  to  visit  friends  on  the  Poto- 
mac above  Washington.  There  she  learned 
minutely  what  the  situation  was.  With  some  diffi- 
culty she  secured  permission  to  go  as  a  guest  to  a 
house  near  Falls  Church,  in  Virginia.  She  had 
hoped  there  to  find  Confederate  picket-posts,  and 
to  work  her  way  to  some  one  of  them  by  stealth  or 
strategy,  or  by  boldly  taking  risks.  She  found 
instead  that  the  nearest  Confederate  outpost  was 
at  Fairfax  Court-house,  nine  miles  away,  while 
the  inner  Federal  lines  lay  on  the  route  from 
Falls  Church  to  Vienna,  and  stretched  both  ways 
from  those  points.  Stuart  was  no  longer  at 
Mason's  and  Munson's  Hills.  With  the  approach 
of  winter  the  Confederates  had  retired  to  their 
fortified  line,  and  Stuart,  with  the  cavalry,  had 
established  himself  at  Camp  Cooper  and  other 
camps,  three  or  four  miles  in  rear  of  the  Fairfax 
Court-house  line,  which  now  constituted  his  ex- 
treme advance. 

Moreover,  the  Federal  army,  under  McClellan's 
skilled  and  vigilant  command,  had  been  com- 

218 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

pletely  reorganised,  drilled,  disciplined,  and  con- 
verted from  the  chaotic  mass  described  in  his 
report  —  quoted  in  a  former  chapter  —  into  an 
alert  and  trustworthy  army,  destined,  during 
later  campaigns,  to  cover  itself  with  glory.  At 
present,  McClellan,  who  had  no  thought  of  ad- 
vancing upon  Centreville  and  Manassas,  where 
the  Confederates  were  strongly  fortified,  was  at 
any  rate  manifesting  spirit  by  continually  pressing 
the  Confederate  outposts,  and  now  and  then  mak- 
ing considerable  demonstrations  against  them. 

His  inner  picket-lines,  as  already  explained, 
were  drawn  very  near  the  house  in  which  Agatha 
was  sojourning.  His  advanced  posts  —  where  the 
skirmishing  was  frequent  —  were  along  the  Fair- 
fax Court-house  line.  Between  these  two  lines 
lay  eight  or  ten  miles  of  thick  and  difficult  coun- 
try, held  by  the  Federals,  and  scouted  over  every 
day,  but  not  regularly  picketed. 

Thus,  instead  of  a  mile  or  two  of  difficulty, 
Agatha  had  before  her  ten  miles  of  trouble,  with 
a  prospect  of  worse  at  the  end  of  it. 

Time  and  extraordinary  care  were  necessary 
to  meet  these  new  difficulties.  Agatha's  first 
problem  was  to  find  out  all  she  could  of  facts, 

219 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

to  gather  exact  and  trustworthy  information.  In 
this  endeavour  she  had  a  shrewdly  intelligent  co- 
adjutor in  Martha. 

By  way  of  avoiding  suspicion  —  for  the  family 
with  whom  she  was  staying  were  known  to  be 
strongly  Southern  in  their  sympathies,  and  the 
Federal  officers  had  begun  to  understand  the  de- 
voted loyalty  of  the  negroes  to  the  families  that 
owned  them  —  Agatha  established  Martha  in  a 
cabin  of  her  own  a  mile  or  more  from  the  house. 
There  Martha  posed  as  a  free  negro  woman,  who 
was  disposed  to  make  a  living  for  herself  by 
selling  fried  chickens,  biscuits,  and  pies  to  the 
Federal  soldiers  on  the  interior  picket-lines,  and 
a  little  later  to  those  posted  farther  in  advance. 

Martha  was  a  sagacious  as  well  as  a  discreet 
person.  At  first  she  showed  a  timid  reluctance 
to  go  farther  toward  the  front  than  the  inner 
lines  from  Falls  Church  to  Vienna.  While  ped- 
dling her  wares  there,  she  took  pains  to  learn  all 
the  foot-paths,  and  the  location  of  all  the  picket- 
posts  in  that  region.  Then  little  by  little  she 
allowed  herself  to  be  persuaded  to  go  farther 
toward  the  outer  lines,  for  the  soldiers  found  her 

2  2O 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

fried  chicken  and  her  biscuits  and  her  pies  par- 
ticularly alluring. 

It  was  only  after  she  had  mastered  both  the 
topography  of  the  country  between,  and  the  exact 
methods  of  its  military  occupation,  that  she  so  far 
overcame  her  assumed  timidity  as  to  push  on  with 
her  basket  to  the  picket-posts  immediately  in  front 
of  Fairfax  Court-house  itself.  She  raised  her 
prices  as  she  went,  lest  by  selling  out  her  stock  in 
trade  she  should  leave  herself  no  excuse  for  going 
to  the  extreme  front  at  all.  For  the  same  reason 
she  came  at  last  to  pass  by  many  posts  where  she 
had  formerly  had  good  customers,  retaining  her 
wares  professedly  for  the  sake  of  the  higher  prices 
that  the  men  at  the  front  gladly  paid  for  some- 
thing better  to  eat  than  the  contents  of  their  hav- 
ersacks. 

Within  a  week  or  two  Martha  had  learned  and 
reported  to  her  mistress  quite  all  that  any  officer 
on  either  side  knew  of  the  country,  its  roads,  its 
foot-paths,  its  difficulties,  and  the  opportunities 
it  afforded.  In  the  middle  of  every  night,  Martha 
made  her  way  to  her  mistress,  or  her  mistress 
made  her  way  to  Martha,  until  at  last,  Agatha, 
who  had  directed  her  inquiries,  was  equipped  with 

221 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

all  necessary  information,  and  ready  for  her 
supreme  endeavour.  It  involved  much  of  dan- 
ger and  incredible  difficulty.  But  the  courageous 
young  woman  was  prepared  to  meet  both  danger 
and  difficulty  with  an  equable  mind.  She  knew 
now  whither  she  was  going  and  how,  but  the 
journey  through  a  difficult  country  must  be  made 
wholly  on  foot  and  wholly  by  night. 

Agatha  was  ready  for  the  ordeal.  As  for 
Martha,  the  earth  to  the  very  ends  of  it  held  no 
terrors  that  could  cause  even  hesitation  on  her 
part  in  the  service  of  her  mistress. 


222 


CANISTER 

IT  was  a  little  after  midnight  when  Agatha  and 
her  maid,  stripped  of  all  belongings  that  could 
impede  them  on  their  way,  set  out  on  foot 
upon  their  perilous  journey.  Agatha  was  delib- 
erately exposing  herself  to  far  worse  dangers  than 
any  that  the  soldier  is  called  upon  to  brave  in  the 
work  of  war.  She  could  carry  little  in  the  way 
of  food,  and  of  course  could  not  replenish  her 
supplies  until  she  should  succeed  in  entering  the 
Confederate  lines,  if  indeed  that  purpose  were 
not  hopeless  of  accomplishment  at  all.  But  the 
danger  of  starvation  which  these  conditions  in- 
volved, was  the  very  least  of  the  perils  she  must 
encounter.  At  any  moment  of  her  stealthy  prog- 
ress she  might  be  shot  by  a  sentinel.  Far  worse 
than  that,  she  might  be  seized  with  her  telltale 
medicines  upon  her  person,  while  hiding  within 
the  forbidden  lines  of  the  enemy.  In  that  case, 

223 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

there  would  be  no  question  whatever  as  to  her 
status  in  military  law,  or  as  to  her  fate.  If 
she  should  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands  under 
such  circumstances,  by  forcible  capture  or  even 
by  voluntary  surrender,  she  must  certainly  be 
hanged  as  a  spy.  She  was  armed  against  that 
danger  only  by  the  possession  of  the  means  of 
instant  self-destruction,  —  her  little  six-shooter. 

It  was  comparatively  easy  for  her  to  find  her 
way  during  the  first  night,  through  the  slender 
interior  picket-line,  and  into  the  forbidden  region 
that  lay  between  that  and  the  outposts  in  front. 
Every  roadway  leading  toward  the  Confederate 
positions  was,  of  course,  securely  guarded,  and 
all  of  them  were  thus  completely  closed  to 
Agatha's  use.  She  must  steal  through  the 
thickets  of  underbrush  that  lay  between  the  roads, 
making  such  progress  as  she  could  without  at  any 
time  placing  herself  within  sight  or  hearing  of 
a  sentinel.  Sometimes  this  involved  prolonged 
waiting  in  constrained  positions,  and  several  times 
she  narrowly  missed  discovery. 

When  morning  came,  the  pair  of  women  hid 
themselves  between  two  logs  that  lay  in  a  dense 
thicket,  and  there  they  remained  throughout  the 
224 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

daylight  hours.     There,  too,  before  noon,  they 
consumed  the  last  fragments  of  their  food. 

During  the  next  night  they  made  small  prog- 
ress. They  succeeded,  indeed,  in  crossing  a  deep 
and  muddy  creek  that  lay  in  front  of  them,  but 
it  was  only  to  find  themselves  confronted  by  a 
roadway,  which  ran  athwart  their  line  of  march, 
and  which,  on  this  night,  at  least,  was  heavily 
picketed  and  constantly  patrolled  by  scouting 
squads  of  cavalry. 

Agatha  crept  on  her  hands  and  knees,  and  quite 
noiselessly,  to  a  point  from  which  she  could  make 
out  the  situation,  and  there  the  pair  remained  in 
hiding  among  the  weeds  and  bushes  that  skirted 
an  old  and  partially  destroyed  fence,  until  day- 
light came  again. 

With  the  daylight  came  a  considerable  thin- 
ning of  the  line  of  videttes  in  front,  and  toward 
nightfall,  after  a  day  of  toilsome  crawling  back 
and  forth  in  search  of  a  way  of  escape,  the  two 
women  succeeded  in  crossing  the  road  unob- 
served. After  crawling  for  a  hundred  yards 
or  so  beyond  the  road,  they  hid  themselves  as 
securely  as  they  could,  and  waited  for  night  to 
come  again. 

225 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

They  were  suffering  the  pangs  of  excessive 
hunger  and  thirst  now,  and  gnawing  roots  and 
twigs  by  way  of  appeasing  the  terrible  craving. 
It  was  obvious  to  Agatha  that  this  night  must 
make  an  end  of  her  attempt  in  one  way  or  another. 
She  must  reach  the  Confederate  lines  before  the 
coming  of  another  day,  or  both  she  and  her 
companion  must  perish  of  hunger,  or  surrender 
themselves  and  be  hanged.  She  suggested  this 
thought  to  Martha,  whose  only  answer  was : 

"  Anyhow,  you'se  got  your  pistol,  Miss  Aga- 
tha." 

There  were  still  two  miles  or  more  to  go  before 
reaching  the  little  patch  of  briars  and  young 
chestnut-trees  just  in  front  of  the  Fairfax  Court- 
house village,  which  was  Agatha's  objective. 
During  her  peddling  trips,  Martha  had  learned 
that  Federal  sharpshooters  were  thrown  into  this 
thicket  every  night,  usually  between  midnight 
and  morning,  for  the  purpose  of  annoying  the 
Confederate  pickets,  stationed  not  fifty  yards 
away.  She  had  learned,  too,  that  nearly  every 
morning,  about  daylight,  the  Confederates  were 
accustomed  to  rid  themselves  of  the  annoyance 
by  sending  out  a  cavalry  force  to  charge  the 
.226 


The      Master    of    Warlock 

thicket  and  clear  it  of  its  occupants.  It  was 
Agatha's  plan  to  hide  herself  and  her  maid  there, 
and  be  captured  by  Stuart's  men  when  they  should 
come. 

But  she  could  not  enter  the  bushes  until  the 
sharpshooters  should  be  in  position.  Otherwise 
they  would  be  sure  to  discover  her  while  placing 
themselves.  As  soon  as  the  riflemen  had  crept 
to  their  posts,  Agatha,  favoured  by  the  unusual 
darkness  of  a  thickly  clouded  night,  crept  to  a 
hiding-place  just  in  rear  of  the  men.  There  she 
and  Martha  lay  upon  the  ground  during  long 
hours,  well-nigh  famished,  and  suffering  severely 
from  cold,  for  the  autumn  was  now  well  advanced. 

Unfortunately  for  Agatha's  plan,  the  Confed- 
erates had  adopted  new  methods  for  this  night. 
Instead  -of  ordering  cavalry  to  clear  the  thicket, 
they  had  decided  to  clear  it  with  canister.  Accord- 
ingly, a  battery  of  artillery  had  been  ordered  to 
the  front,  and  bivouacked  half  a  mile  in  rear  of 
Fairfax  Court-house.  Thence  just  before  day- 
light two  guns  had  been  dragged  forward  by 
prolonge  ropes,  and  stationed  under  the  trees 
of  a  little  grove  about  fifty  yards  in  front  of  the 

227 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

cover  from  which  the  Federal  sharpshooters  were 
occasionally  firing. 

Just  at  dawn,  these  two  guns  suddenly  and 
furiously  opened  upon  the  bushes  with  canister 
in  double  charges. 

The  effect  was  terrific.  The  bushes  were  mown 
down  as  with  a  scythe,  and  it  seemed  impossible 
to  the  two  women  that  any  human  being  should 
survive  the  iron  hailstorm  for  a  single  minute. 
The  sharpshooters  scurried  away  precipitately, 
one  of  them  actually  stumbling  over  Agatha's 
prostrate  form,  which  he  probably  took  to  be  that 
of  some  comrade  slain.  But  Agatha  and  her  maid 
remained,  and  the  fearful  fire  continued.  They 
remained  because  there  was  nothing  else  for  them 
to  do.  They  could  not  retreat.  They  could  not 
surrender.  They  were  starving.  They  must  go 
forward  or  die. 

Then  the  courage  and  daring  of  her  race  came 
to  Agatha's  soul,  and  she  resolved  to  make  a  last 
desperate  attempt  to  save  herself,  not  by  running 
away  from  the  fire,  —  which  would  be  worse  than 
useless,  —  but  by  running  into  it.  The  danger  in 
doing  this  was  scarcely  greater,  in  fact,  though 
it  seemed  so,  than  that  involved  in  lying  still, 
228 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

but  it  requires  an  extraordinary  courage  for  one 
unarmed  and  not  inspired  by  the  desperate  all- 
daring  spirit  of  battle,  to  rush  upon  guns  that 
are  belching  canister  in  half-gallon  charges,  at 
the  rate  of  three  or  four  times  a  minute. 

The  sharpshooters  were  completely  gone  now, 
and  nothing  lay  between  the  young  woman 
and  her  friends  except  a  canister-swept  open  space 
fifty  yards  in  width.  This  the  heroic  girl  — 
baffled  of  all  other  resource  —  determined  to  dare. 
Directing  Martha  to  follow  her  closely,  she  rose 
and  in  the  gray  of  the  dawn  ran  like  a  deer  toward 
the  bellowing  guns.  Fortunately,  some  one  at  the 
guns  caught  sight  of  the  fleet-footed  pair  when 
they  had  covered  about  half  the  distance,  and,  in 
the  increasing  light,  saw  them  to  be  women.  In- 
stantly the  order,  "  Cease  firing ! "  was  given, 
and  the  clamorous  cannon  were  hushed,  but  a 
heavy  musketry  fire  from  the  enemy  broke  forth 
just  as  Agatha  and  her  maid  fell  exhausted  be- 
tween the  guns.  A  voice  of  command  rang  out : 

"  Pick  up  those  women,  quick,  and  carry  them 
out  of  the  fire!  "  Half  a  dozen  of  the  men  re- 
sponded, and  strong  arms  carried  the  nearly  life- 
less women  to  a  small  depression  just  in  rear, 

229 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

where  they  were  screened  from  the  now  slowly 
slackening  shower  of  bullets. 

When  the  fire  had  completely  ceased,  Captain 
Baillie  Pegram  ordered  his  guns,  "  By  hand  to  the 
rear,"  and  rode  back  to  inquire  concerning  his 
captives.  It  was  then  that  he  discovered  for  the 
first  time  who  the  fugitives  were,  and  the  horror 
with  which  he  realised  what  he  supposed  to  be 
the  situation,  set  him  reeling  in  his  saddle. 

He  had  heard  nothing  of  Agatha's  mission  to 
the  north,  of  course.  He  now  knew  only  that  she 
had  been  hiding  within  the  enemy's  lines,  and  only 
one  interpretation  of  that  fact  seemed  possible. 
Agatha  Ronald — the  woman  he  loved,  the  woman 
upon  whose  integrity  and  Virginianism  he  would 
have  staked  his  life  without  a  second  thought  — 
had  turned  traitor !  He  did  not  pause  to  ask  him- 
self how,  in  such  a  case,  she  had  come  to  be  in 
the  thicket  among  the  sharpshooters.  He  was  too 
greatly  stunned  to  think  of  that,  or  otherwise  to 
reason  clearly. 

Nor  did  he  question  her,  except  to  ask  if  she 
or  her  maid  had  been  wounded,  and  when  she 
assured  him  of  their  safety,  he  said : 

"  I  don't  know  whether  to  thank  God  for  that 
230 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

or  not.    It  might  have  been  better,  perhaps,  if  both 
had  fallen." 

Agatha  heard  the  remark,  and  understood  in 
part  at  least  the  thought  that  lay  behind  it.  But 
she  did  not  reply.  She  only  said,  feebly : 

"  We  are  starving." 

"  Bring  two  horses,  quickly,"  Baillie  com- 
manded. "  Lieutenant  Mills,  take  the  guns  back 
to  the  bivouac.  Our  work  here  is  done." 

Then  turning  to  Agatha,  he  explained : 

"  We  have  no  rations  here ;  can  you  manage 
to  ride  as  far  as  our  bivouac?  It  is  only  half  a 
mile  away,  and  we'll  find  something  to  eat  there." 

Agatha's  exhaustion  was  so  great  that  she  could 
scarcely  sit  up,  but  she  summoned  all  her  reso- 
lution and  managed  to  hold  herself  in  place  on 
the  McClellan  saddle  which  alone  was  available 
for  her  use.  Martha  was  carried  by  the  men  on 
an  improvised  litter. 

At  the  bivouac,  no  food  was  found  except  a 
pone  or  two  of  coarse  corn  bread  and  a  few  slices 
of  uncooked  bacon.  But  the  delicate  girl  and 
her  maid  devoured  these  almost  greedily,  eating 
the  bacon  raw  in  soldier  fashion,  for,  of  course, 
no  fires  were  allowed  upon  the  picket-line. 

231 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

Food  and  rest  quickly  revived  Agatha,  and  Bail- 
lie  remembered  certain  very  peremptory  orders  he 
had  received  as  to  his  course  of  procedure  should 
"  any  woman  whatever  "  come  into  his  lines. 

"  I  must  escort  you  presently  to  a  safer  place 
than  this,"  he  said. 

"  Am  I  to  go  under  compulsion,  Captain  Pe- 
gram,"  the  girl  asked,  "  or  of  my  own  accord?  " 

"  With  that,"  he  answered,  "  I  am  afraid  I 
have  nothing  to  do.  My  sole  concern  is  to  take 
you  out  of  danger.  It  is  not  my  business  to  ask 
you  questions  as  to  how  you  have  come  into 
danger  in  a  way  so  peculiar." 

"  And  yet,"  she  replied,  "  that  is  a  matter  that 
I  suppose  requires  inquiry,  and  I  am  ready  for 
the  ordeal." 

The  moment  she  spoke  that  word,  which  was 
the  fourth  in  the  series  that  Stuart  had  given  her, 
and  the  one  he  had  selected  as  a  test  for  this 
day,  Baillie  Pegram  flinched  as  if  he  had  been 
struck,  while  his  face  turned  white.  Hoping  that 
her  use  of  the  word  had  been  accidental,  or  that 
the  emphasis  she  had  placed  upon  it  had  been 
unintended,  he  asked : 

"What  did  you  say?" 
232 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  I  said,"  she  responded,  very  deliberately, 
"  that  I  am  ready  for  the  ordeal" 

The  look  of  consternation  on  Baillie's  face 
deepened.  Without  replying,  he  walked  away  in 
an  agitation  of  mind  which  he  felt  must  be  hidden 
from  others  at  all  costs.  Pacing  back  and  forth 
under  screen  of  some  bushes,  he  tried  to  think 
the  matter  out.  Under  his  orders,  he  must  arrest 
Agatha  and  take  her  to  Stuart,  who  had  been 
more  than  usually  anxious,  as  Baillie  knew,  to 
capture  this  particular  prisoner.  But  to  do  that, 
he  felt,  must  mean  Agatha's  disgrace  and  shame- 
ful death,  and  the  staining  of  an  ancient  and 
honoured  name.  Yet  what  else  could  he  do? 

"  Would  to  God !  "  he  exclaimed,  under  his 
breath,  "  that  my  canister  had  done  its  work 
better!" 

Then  he  fell  into  silence  again,  questioning 
himself  in  the  vain  hope  of  finding  a  way  through 
the  blind  wall  of  circumstances. 

"  Agatha,"  he  thought,  "  has  been  with  the 
enemy,  and  has  been  trying  to  get  back  again  in 
order  to  render  them  some  further  traitorous  ser- 
vice. Stuart  has  obviously  learned  all  about  the 
conspiracy  in  which  she  had  been  engaged.  That 

233 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

is  why  he  has  been  so  eager  for  her  arrest.  That 
is  how  he  knew  what  signal-words  she  would 
use  in  her  endeavour  to  find  some  fellow  con- 
spirator among  us.  But  why  did  she  use  the 
word  to  me.  Surely  the  conspiracy  cannot  have 
become  so  wide-spread  among  us  that  she  deemed 
me  a  person  likely  to  be  engaged  in  it.  Perhaps 
she  spoke  for  other  ears  than  mine,  hoping  to  find 
a  traitor  among  those  who  stood  by. 

"  And  the  worst  of  it  is  that  I  still  love  her. 
Knowing  her  treachery  and  her  shame,  I  still  can- 
not change  my  attitude  of  mind.  What  shall  I 
do?  I  could  turn  traitor  for  her  sake.  I  could 
manage  to  secure  her  escape,  and  then  give  myself 
up,  confess  my  crime,  and  accept  the  shameful 
death  that  it  would  merit." 

For  the  space  of  a  minute  he  lingered  over 
this  idea  of  supreme  self-sacrifice  with  which  the 
devil  seemed  to  be  luring  him  to  destruction. 
Then  he  cast  it  aside,  and  reproached  himself 
for  having  let  it  enter  his  mind. 

"  No  love  is  worth  a  man's  honour,"  he 
thought.  "  A  better  way  would  be  to  kill  her 
myself,  and  then  commit  suicide.  No,  not  that. 

234 


• '  '  I  love  you,  Agatha   Ronald '  ' ' 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Suicide  is  the  coward's  way  out ;  and  killing  her 
would  only  reveal  and  emphasise  her  crime." 

Just  then  one  of  his  men  approached  him,  and 
announced  that  orders  had  come  for  the  battery's 
return  to  its  camp.  Baillie  walked  back  to  the 
bivouac,  and  said  to  his  lieutenant : 

"  Take  command  and  march  to  the  camp  at 
once.  I  have  some  personal  orders  to  execute." 

With  that  promptitude  which  all  men  serving 
under  Stuart  learned  to  regard  as  one  of  the  car- 
dinal virtues,  the  lieutenant  had  the  battery 
mounted  and  in  motion  within  a  few  minutes. 
Not  until  it  had  made  the  turn  in  the  road  did 
Baillie  approach  Agatha.  Then  he  faced  her,  and 
staring  with  strained  and  bloodshot  eyes  into 
her  face,  he  abruptly  said : 

"  I  love  you,  Agatha  Ronald.  In  spite  of  what 
you  have  done,  that  fact  remains.  I  love  you !  " 

"  This  is  neither  the  time  nor  place  in  which 
to  tell  me  so,"  she  interrupted.  Then,  after  a 
brief  moment  of  hesitation,  she  broke  down  and 
burst  into  tears.  It  was  only  a  very  few  moments 
before  she  controlled  herself,  and  forced  herself 
to  speak  clearly,  though  she  did  so  with  manifest 
difficulty. 

235 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

"  Please  forget  what  you  have  just  said,"  she 
began.  "  I  realise  your  position.  I  understand. 
I  think  I  know  what  you  have  been  thinking. 
You  have  contemplated  a  crime  for  my  sake, — the 
highest  crime  of  all.  For  my  sake  you  have  been 
tempted  to  sacrifice  not  only  your  life  —  which  to 
a  brave  man  means  little  —  but  your  honour, 
which  is  more  precious  to  a  brave  man  than  all 
else  in  the  world.  Tell  me,  please,  and  tell  me 
quickly,  that  you  have  put  that  temptation  aside 

—  that  you  have  utterly  repudiated  the  horrible 
thought." 

"  I  have  done  so  certainly,"  he  replied,  in  a 
hard  voice.  "  But  why  do  you  care  so  much  for 
that?" 

"  Why  ?     Because  your  honour  —  all  honour 

—  is  precious  to  me,  and  I  could  not  respect  you 
if  you  had  consented  to  the  thought  of  dishonour 
even  in  your  mind.     I  should  loathe  and  detest 
your    soul    if    for   my   sake   or   any    sake    you 
could  have  done  that.     No,  don't  interrupt  me, 
please,"  seeing  that  he  was  trying  to  speak,  "  let 
me  finish.    I,  too,  am  under  orders,  one  of  which 
is  to  keep  my  lips  sealed.     But  under  such  cir- 
cumstances as  these  I  may  disobey  my  orders 

236 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

without  dishonour.  I  am  not  a  soldier.  Let  me 
tell  you  a  little,  then,  so  that  you  may  not  suffer 
on  my  account.  No  harm  will  come  to  me  when 
you  take  me,  as  you  must,  to  General  Stuart.  I 
am  here  by  his  own  orders,  and  I  was  over  there," 
motioning  toward  the  enemy's  lines,  "  with  his 
full  knowledge  and  consent.  There.  That  is  all 
I  may  tell  you." 

The  strong  man  turned  deathly  pale  under 
the  shock  of  the  relief  that  the  young  woman's 
words  brought  to  his  mind.  For  a  moment 
Agatha  thought  that  he  would  fall,  but  re- 
covering himself,  he  ejaculated,  "  Thank  God !  " 
and  those  were  the  only  words  he  spoke  for  a 
space. 

He  presently  ordered  the  horses  brought,  and 
helped  Agatha  to  mount. 

"  Can  you  manage  to  ride  a  McClellan  saddle?  " 
he  asked.  "  There  is  no  other  to  be  had." 

"  I  suppose  not,"  Agatha  answered,  with  re- 
turning spirits.  "  I  suppose  the  quartermaster's 
department  does  not  issue  side-saddles  to  the 
mounted  artillery  for  the  use  of  errant  damsels 
whom  they  capture.  But  I  can  do  very  well  on 
a  cavalry  saddle." 

237 


XVII 

AT  HEADQUARTERS 

AGATHA  was  well-nigh  exhausted  by  the 
terrible  strain  she  had  endured.  She  could 
scarcely  sustain  herself  in  the  saddle,  as 
she  and  Baillie  set  out,  her  maid  riding  a-pillion 
behind  her.  She  would  have  liked  —  if  she  had 
dared  risk  it  —  to  keep  the  silence  of  extreme 
weariness  during  the  journey  to  Stuart's  head- 
quarters, two  or  three  miles  away,  but  in  fact  she 
talked  incessantly,  in  a  hard,  constrained  voice, 
limiting  the  conversation  strictly  to  external  mat- 
ters. She  asked  her  companion  about  his  battery, 
the  number  and  character  of  his  guns,  how  many 
men  he  might  have  under  his  command,  the  nature 
of  his  duties,  and  many  other  things,  chatter  about 
which  served  as  a  substitute  for  the  more  per- 
sonal conversation  that  she  was  determined  to 
avoid.  She  was  fencing  for  position,  and  her 
purpose  was  plain  enough  to  Baillie  Pegram,  but 
238 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

at  the  end  of  the  ride  the  girl  herself  was  more 
inscrutably  a  riddle  to  him  than  she  had  been 
before.  For  just  as  they  arrived,  and  when  it 
was  too  late  for  him  to  say  any  word  in  reply, 
she  suddenly  turned  to  him,  and  said: 

"  Before  we  part,  Captain  Pegram,  I  want  to 
thank  you  for  all  you  have  done  for  me,  and  still 
more  for  what  you  have  felt  —  I  mean  your  wish 
to  save  me.  I  am  very  grateful,  but  —  " 

There  she  broke  off,  leaving  him  to  torture  him- 
self with  almost  maddening  conjectures  as  to  what 
should  have  followed  that  bewildering  "  but." 

At  that  moment  Stuart,  who  had  heard  of  the 
capture  and  was  waiting,  came  hurriedly  from 
the  piazza,  of  his  headquarters  to  greet  and  wel- 
come the  arriving  pair.  With  strong  arms  he 
lifted  the  girl  from  her  saddle  and  placed  her  on 
her  feet,  as  he  might  have  done  with  an  infant 
child.  For  he  was  a  giant  in  strength,  and  his 
muscles  were  as  obedient  to  his  will  as  were  the 
troopers  who  so  eagerly  followed  him  in  every 
fray. 

Seeing  the  girl's  bedraggled  condition,  and  un- 
derstanding how  sorely  shaken  her  nerves  must 

239 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

be,  he  made  no  reference  to  the  circumstances  of 
her  coming,  but  cheerily  said: 

"  I  am  doubly  fortunate,  Miss  Agatha,  in  hav- 
ing you  again  for  a  visitor,  and  in  having  the 
ladies  of  my  household  with  me  just  now;  for 
God  bless  these  Virginia  women,"  addressing  this 
part  of  his  remark  to  Captain  Pegram,  "  they  are 
always  with  us  when  we  need  them." 

With  that  he  hurried  Agatha  into  the  house, 
and  placed  her  in  feminine  charge,  with  orders 
that  she  should  have  food  and  rest  and  sleep, 
and  especially  that  she  should  not  be  annoyed  by 
any  questionings  until  such  time  as  she  should 
herself  desire  to  speak  with  him. 

"  You  will  remain  with  us  to  dinner,  Captain 
Pegram,  if  you  please.  There  are  matters  about 
which  I  wish  to  talk  with  you." 

When  the  two  were  left  alone,  he  said : 

"  Tell  me,  now,  all  you  know  about  how  Miss 
Agatha  became  your  prisoner  —  the  details,  I 
mean." 

When  Baillie  had  finished  the  narrative,  ex- 
pressing wonder  that  the  girl   had  passed  un- 
harmed through  that  hailstorm  of  canister,  Stuart 
said,  simply : 
240 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  I'm  glad  your  gun  practice  was  no  better." 

"  So  am  I,"  the  young  man  answered. 

It  was  not  until  late  in  the  afternoon  that  Stuart 
was  summoned  to  meet  his  guest,  who  was  also 
his  prisoner.  She  had  in  the  meantime  divested 
herself  and  her  maid  of  their  burden,  and  the 
precious  drug  had  been  carefully  packed  for  ship- 
ment under  guard  to  Richmond.  She  had  also 
slept  long  and  well  after  her  breakfast,  and  was 
now  as  fresh  and  as  full  of  spirit  as  if  she  had 
known  no  hardship,  and  passed  through  no  dan- 
ger. 

Before  the  dinner  hour,  Stuart  had  taken  pains 
to  send  away  all  the  members  of  his  staff,  each 
upon  some  errand  manufactured  for  the  occasion. 
At  dinner  there  was  no  one  present  but  his  own 
family,  Agatha,  and  Captain  Baillie  Pegram. 

Stuart  was  all  eagerness  to  learn  not  only  the 
results,  but  the  details  of  the  perilous  journey, 
and  to  that  end  he  required  Agatha  to  begin  at  the 
beginning  and  relate  each  day's  experience.  She 
did  so,  explaining  the  arrangements  she  had 
made  for  her  underground  railway,  and  telling 
him  of  a  plan  she  had  formed  to  give  to  that 
line  a  number  of  termini  at  various  points  in 

241 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Virginia,  each  under  charge  of  some  trusty 
"  Dixie  girl,"  in  order  that  there  might  be  no 
interruption  of  the  traffic,  whatever  the  future 
movements  of  the  two  armies  might  be. 

"  It's  the  very  crookedest  railroad  you  ever 
heard  of,  General,"  she  added,  when  her  account 
of  it  was  finished,  "  but  I  expect  it  to  do  a  con- 
siderable traffic.  I  am  to  be  its  general  freight 
agent,  and  I  have  impressed  all  my  agents  with 
the  fact  that  the  preservation  of  our  secret  is 
of  far  greater  importance  than  the  safe  delivery 
of  any  one  consignment  of  goods.  They  will 
take  plenty  of  time  at  every  step,  and  not  risk 
discovery  for  the  sake  of  speed." 

"  That  is  excellent.  But  I  wish  I  had  sug- 
gested to  you  to  make  some  arrangement  by 
which  you  might  —  " 

"O,  I  did  that,"  she  interrupted.  "I  took 
a  leaf  out  of  your  book.  Of  course,  it  will  often 
be  possible  to  get  little  letters  through,  but  letters 
are  very  dangerous  —  at  least,  when  they  say 
anything.  So  I  have  taken  your  signal-words 
as  my  model,  and  laboriously  constructed  a  sys- 
tem by  which  I  can  say  the  most  dangerous  things 

242 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

in  a  letter  without  seeming  to  say  anything  at 
all." 

"  By  signal-words  ?  " 

"  Yes,  partly,  but  more  in  other  ways." 

"  For  example?  " 

"  Well,  if  I  send  a  foolish,  chattering  girl's 
note  about  nothing,  and  I  happen  to  write  it  in 
a  '  back  hand,'  that  fact  will  tell  my  corre- 
spondent what  I  "want  to  tell  her.  So  if  I  write  in 
an  ordinary  hand,  that  will  mean  something  quite 
different.  In  the  same  way,  if  I  write,  '  My  dear 
Mary,'  it  will  signify  one  thing,  while  '  Dear 
Mary'  will  mean  another;  I've  arranged  four- 
teen different  forms  of  address,  each  having  its 
own  particular  meaning.  The  punctuation  will 
mean  something,  too,  and  the  way  I  sign  myself, 
and  the  colour  of  my  ink,  and  the  occasional  slight 
misspelling  of  a  word  —  all  these  and  a  dozen 
other  things  are  carefully  arranged  for,  so  that 
I  can  tell  a  friend  pretty  nearly  anything  I  please, 
while  seeming  only  to  tell  her  the  colour  of  my 
new  gown  —  if  I  ever  have  a  new  gown  again 
—  or  anything  else  of  the  kind  that  girls  are  fond 
of  writing  letters  about." 

"  But  you  and  all  your  correspondents  must 

243 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

have  copies  of  your  code  for  all  this.  Isn't  there 
great  danger  that  one  or  another  of  them  may 
be  discovered  ?  " 

The  girl  laughed  before  answering. 

"  Even  you,  General  Stuart,  must  have  found 
out  that  it  is  difficult  to  discover  what  is  in  a 
young  woman's  mind.  This  code  exists  nowhere 
else  in  the  world.  We've  all  learned  it  by  heart, 
and  can  recite  it  backward  or  forward  or  even 
sideways*  No  word  of  it  has  ever  been  written 
down  on  paper,  or  ever  will  be.  You  gentlemen 
are  fond  of  saying  that  we  women  cannot  keep 
a  secret.  You  shall  see  how  well  we  keep  this." 

"  O,  as  to  that,"  answered  Stuart,  "  I  never 
shared  any  such  belief.  Why,  women  keep  secrets 
so  well  that  we  never  know  even  what  they  think 
of  us.  Is  not  that  so,  Captain  Pegram  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  perhaps  it  is  fortunate  for  us,  too, 
sometimes." 

"  But  I  did  betray  a  secret  to  Captain  Pe- 
gram this  morning,"  Agatha  continued,  speaking 
gravely  now.  "  He  seemed  so  troubled  at  having 
to  arrest  me  under  the  circumstances  in  which  I 
seemed  to  have  placed  myself,  that  I  relieved 

244     ' 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

his  mind  by  telling  him  I  was  acting  under  your 
orders,  or,  at  least,  with  your  consent." 

"  Perhaps  you'd  like  to  prefer  charges  against 
the  captain?  I  dare  say  he  was  very  stern  and 
inconsiderate." 

Instantly  the  girl  flushed,  and  speaking  with 
unusual  seriousness,  she  answered : 

"  I  beg  to  assure  you,  General  Stuart,  that  Cap- 
tain Pegram  was  altogether  generous  and  kind 
to  me  —  far  more  so  than  I  had  a  right  to  expect. 
I  can  never  sufficiently  thank  him." 

To  Baillie,  this  speech  was  inscrutable  and  be- 
wildering. It  might  mean  one  thing,  or  another 
—  much  or  little  —  according  to  the  interpreta- 
tion put  upon  the  words.  It  might  refer  only 
to  Baillie's  care  for  her  physical  comfort  and 
safety,  or,  as  Baillie  scarcely  dared  believe,  it  might 
obliquely  include  in  its  intent,  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  passionate  declaration  of  love 
that  he  had  been  betrayed  into  making.  It  might 
be  interpreted  to  mean  that  the  words  surprised 
from  his  lips  were  not  unwelcome  to  her  who 
had  heard  them.  She  had  bidden  him  forget 
what  he  had  said,  but  might  it  not  be  that  she 

245 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

herself  remembered  and  was  not  displeased  with 
the  recollection? 

He  resolved  to  ask  her  for  the  answer  to  that 
riddle  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  but  for  the 
present  he  flushed  crimson  and  kept  silent. 

Stuart,  however,  had  accomplished  his  purpose. 
He  had  found  out,  or  believed  that  he  had  found 
out,  what  he  wished  to  know  concerning  the 
attitude  of  these  two  toward  each  other,  and  he 
was  mightily  pleased  with  the  discovery.  He 
abruptly  changed  the  course  of  the  conversation. 

"  When  would  you  like  to  go  to  your  home, 
Miss  Agatha  ?  " 

"  I  should  like  to  set  out  early  to-morrow,  Gen- 
eral, if  I  may  —  if  I  am  released  from  arrest." 

"  O,  I  shall  not  release  you  yet.  You  are 
much  too  dangerous  a  conspirator  for  that.  I 
shall  send  you  home  under  guard,  and  I  have 
selected  Captain  Pegram  to  be  your  safe-keeper. 
I  shall  send  him  with  you,  under  orders  to  remain 
at  Willoughby  for  a  week,  keeping  you  under 
close  surveillance.  If  at  the  end  of  that  time  he 
finds  you  sufficiently  subdued,  he  will  have  orders 
to  put  you  on  parole,  and  return  to  his  command. 
As  he  and  you  are  *  almost  strangers/  he  will  be 
246 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

a  safer  judge  of  the  propriety  of  releasing  you 
than  any  other  officer  I  could  send  for  that  pur- 
pose." 

The  two  were  sorely  embarrassed  by  this  an- 
nouncement, coming  as  it  did  without  warning 
to  either.  Neither  knew  what  to  say,  or  whether 
the  arrangement  was  welcome  or  unwelcome  to 
the  other.  The  sudden  announcement  of  it,  at 
any  rate,  was  very  embarrassing  to  both,  and 
Pegram  received  it  with  a  feeling  of  consterna- 
tion for  the  moment.  In  the  next  instant,  he 
realised  the  opportunity  it  would  give  him  to 
renew  the  morning's  conversation,  and  to  learn 
definitely  what  Agatha's  attitude  toward  him  was 
to  be  after  such  a  declaration  as  he  had  made. 
For  whatever  else  happens,  an  avowal  of  that 
kind,  made  with  such  earnestness,  never  fails  to 
work  some  change  in  a  true  woman's  mind  and 
soul.  Baillie  managed,  with  some  difficulty,  to 
say: 

"  I  will  be  glad  to  carry  out  your  orders, 
General." 

Agatha  said  nothing.  What  she  thought  and 
felt,  it  would  be  idle  to  inquire. 

247 


XVIII 

A  BRUSH  AT  THE  FRONT 

A  SITUATION  which  might  have  become 
embarrassing,  had  it  been  prolonged,  was 
relieved  at  that  moment  by  the  arrival  of 
ai  courier  who  had  come  in  hot  haste  with  mes- 
sages from  the  front. 

The  enemy  was  moving  upon  Fairfax  Court- 
house in  three  columns  and  in  strong  force.  The 
light  of  battle  came  into  Stuart's  eyes  as  he  re- 
ceived the  news,  and  he  issued  hurried  orders  to 
his  staff-officers  as  one  after  another  they  came 
up  at  a  gallop.  To  Agatha  he  said : 

"  Remain  here,  you  and  the  other  ladies,  unless 
orders  come  for  you  to  leave.  I  must  borrow 
Captain  Pegram  from  your  service  for  a  time, 
if  I  may." 

"  Gladly !  "  answered  the  girl,   and  her  tone 
sorely  puzzled  Baillie  Pegram.     But  there  was 
248 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

no  time  for  speculation  upon  its  meaning,  for 
Stuart  turned  to  him  and  ordered : 

"  Take  your  battery  down  the  Vienna  road, 
and  act  with  Fitz  Lee  or  whomever  else  you  find 
there.  Move  rapidly,  but  spare  your  horses  all 
you  can." 

Then  hurriedly  turning1  to  the  couriers  and 
staff-officers  who  stood  by  their  horses,  he  issued 
orders  with  the  rapidity  of  one  who  recites  the 
alphabet  or  the  multiplication  table.  Within  the 
space  of  two  minutes  he  had  assigned  every  bri- 
gade and  regiment  under  his  command  to  its 
post  and  duty,  and  had  sent  to  General  Johnston 
at  Centreville  a  request  that  infantry  supports 
might  be  moved  forward  and  held  within  call 
in  case  of  need.  A  minute  later  he  was  a-gallop 
for  the  front. 

Baillie  had  preceded  him,  and  even  before  the 
general  had  reached  Fairfax  Court-house,  Pe- 
gram's  battery  was  hurrying  down  the  Vienna 
road,  with  the  First  and  Fourth  Regiments  of 
Virginia  cavalry  just  in  front.  It  was  the  work 
of  a  very  few  moments  to  form  these  forces  and 
others  that  were  coming  up,  into  a  line  of  battle, 
facing  the  enemy,  but  by  the  time  they  were  in 

249 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

position,  Stuart  himself  came  up  and  took  com- 
mand. 

"Tell  Captain  Pegram,"  he  said  to  a  staff- 
officer,  "  to  advance  his  battery  to  the  brow  of 
the  hill  yonder,  and  open  a  vigorous  fire  upon 
whatever  he  finds  in  front.  Order  Colonel  Jones 
of  the  First  Regiment  to  take  position  imme- 
diately in  rear  of  the  battery,  and  support  it  at 
all  hazards." 

Within  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  the 
words,  Baillie  Pegram's  guns  were  hurling 
shrapnel  into  the  face  of  the  enemy,  whose  re- 
sponse was  menacingly  slow  and  deliberate. 

"  That  looks,"  said  Stuart,  presently,  to  one 
who  rode  by  his  side,  "  as  if  they  meant  business 
this  time.  Send  orders  to  the  infantry  in  rear 
to  form  a  second  line,  and  be  ready  in  case  we 
are  beaten  back." 

It  should  be  explained  that  during  the  autumn 
of  1 86 1  McClellan  sent  out  many  expeditions, 
each  wearing  the  aspect  of  an  advance  in  force 
against  the  Confederate  position  at  Centreville. 
These  movements  were  in  reality  intended  as 
threats,  and  nothing  more.  The  chief  purpose 
of  them  was  to  keep  the  Confederates  uneasy, 
250 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

and  at  the  same  time  to  accustom  the  Federal 
volunteers  to  stand  fire  and  to  contemplate  battle 
in  earnest  as  the  serious  business  of  the  soldier. 

These  advances  were  made  always  with  a  brave 
show  of  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery,  and  with 
all  the  seeming  of  the  vanguard  of  an  army  in- 
tending battle.  But  after  a  heavy  skirmish  the 
columns  were  always  withdrawn,  leaving  only 
picket-lines  at  the  -front.  McClellan  was  not  yet 
ready  to  offer  battle.  It  was  during  that  period 
that  President  Lincoln,  weary  of  McClellan's  de- 
lay and  inactivity,  sarcastically  said  that  if  the 
general  had  no  use  for  the  army,  he  (Lincoln) 
would  like  to  borrow  it  for  awhile. 

But  this  day's  movement  differed  in  some  re- 
spects from  those  that  had  gone  before.  It  in- 
volved a  much  heavier  force,  for  one  thing,  and 
the  proportion  of  artillery  to  the  other  arms  was 
greater.  Still  more  significant  was  the  fact  that 
the  commander  of  the  expedition,  instead  of  mak- 
ing the  customary  dash,  threw  forward  a  heavy 
skirmish-line,  holding  his  main  body  in  reserve, 
and  otherwise  conducting  himself  after  the  fash- 
ion of  a  general  sent  to  hold  the  front  with  as 

251 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

little  fighting  as  might  be,  until  a  much  heavier 
force  could  be  brought  up. 

It  was  Stuart's  duty,  as  the  commander  of  the 
cavalry,  to  find  out  as  quickly  as  possible  what  lay 
behind  the  lines  that  confronted  him,  in  order 
that  he  might  know  and  report  precisely  what  and 
how  much  the  movement  meant.  To  that  end 
he  sent  for  Colonel  Jones,  of  the  First  Regiment, 
and  when  that  most  unmilitary-looking  of  hard 
fighters  presented  himself  in  his  faded  yellow 
coat,  the  pot  hat  which  he  always  wore  at  that 
time,  and  with  his  peculiar  nasal  drawl,  Stuart 
gave  the  order: 

"  Take  your  right  company  and  ride  to  the 
right  around  the  flank  of  the  enemy's  line.  Find 
out  what  it  amounts  to.  See  if  there  are  baggage 
and  ammunition  trains  in  rear,  and  if  they  mean 
business.  The  whole  thing  is  probably  as  hollow 
as  a  gourd,  but  it  may  be  otherwise.  Go  and 
find  out." 

In  the  meantime,  Stuart  had  dismounted  a  part 
of  his  forces,  and  ordered  them  with  their  car- 
bines to  form  a  skirmish-line  on  foot  in  front. 
The  rest  of  his  men  —  three  thousand  stalwart 
young  cavaliers,  mounted  upon  horses  that  had 
252 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

pedigrees  behind  them — were  drawn  up  in  double 
ranks  wherever  there  was  space  for  a  regiment, 
a  company,  or  a  squad  of  them  to  stand. 

Then  came  half  an  hour  of  waiting.  The  enemy 
had  thrown  additional  infantry  forward,  and  the 
skirmishing  grew  steadily  heavier,  as  if  the  Fed- 
eral skirmish-line  were  being  reinforced  from 
moment  to  moment. 

In  fact,  that  heavy  advance-line  embraced  all 
there  was  of  the  Federal  movement,  as  Colonel 
Jones  discovered,  when  with  a  single  company  of 
horsemen  he  gained  the  enemy's  rear.  There 
were  no  baggage  or  provision  or  ammunition 
trains  to  indicate  a  serious  purpose  of  giving 
battle. 

The  captain  of  the  company  which  Colonel 
Jones  had  taken  with  him  on  this  mission  of  dis- 
covery, was  a  reticent  person,  but  a  man  of  quick 
wits,  ready  resource,  and  a  daring  that  always 
had  a  relish  of  humour  in  it.  When  Colonel  Jones 
suggested  a  return  march  around  the  enemy's 
left  flank,  the  captain  asked : 

"  Why  not  take  a  short  cut?  "  and  when  asked 
for  his  meaning,  answered: 

"  It's  an  egg-shell,   that  line.     The  quickest 

253 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

way  of  letting  Stuart  know  the  fact,  it  seems  to 
me,  would  be  to  break  through  right  here.  He 
won't  be  long  in  getting  to  windward  of  the  sit- 
uation when  he  sees  us  coming." 

The  suggestion  was  instantly  acted  upon,  with 
a  startling  dramatic  result.  With  a  yell  that  made 
them  seem  a  regiment  of  howling  demons,  the 
fifty  or  sixty  men  charged  upon  the  rear  of  the 
line  and  broke  through  it.  Even  before  the  head 
of  their  little  column  showed  itself  on  the  farther 
side,  their  yells  had  made  sufficient  report  of 
the  facts  to  the  alert  mind  of  Jeb  Stuart.  He  in- 
stantly led  his  entire  force  forward  to  the  charge. 

There  was  a  clatter  of  hoofs,  a  clangour  of 
sabres,  a  rattle  of  small  arms,  and  a  roar  from 
Baillie  Pegram's  guns.  Everything  was  shrouded 
in  an  impenetrable  cloud  of  dust  and  powder- 
smoke. 

The  enemy  stood  fast  for  a  time,  resisting 
obstinately  and  fairly  checking  the  tremendous 
onset.  It  was  not  until  a  brigade  of  infantry  and 
three  full  batteries  had  been  brought  into  action 
that  the  Federals  gave  way.  Even  then,  they  re- 
treated in  orderly  fashion,  with  no  suggestion 
of  panic  or  loss  of  cohesion. 

254 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

"  George  B.  McClellan  has  at  last  got  his  army 
into  fighting  shape,"  commented  Stuart,  when  all 
was  over.  "  He's  going  to  give  us  trouble  from 
this  time  forth." 

The  Federals  were  in  full  retreat,  but  their 
steadiness  did  not  encourage  Stuart  to  send  small 
forces  in  pursuit.  He  contented  himself  with 
advancing  his  line  half  a  mile  for  purposes  of 
observation,  after  which,  as  the  night  was  falling, 
he  ordered  a  general  return  of  his  regiments  to 
their  encampments. 

When  all  was  over,  there  were  found  to 
be  many  empty  saddles  in  Stuart's  command. 
Among  them  was  that  which  Baillie  Pegram  had 
ridden  during  the  morning's  journey  with  Agatha 
Ronald. 


255 


XIX 

AGATHA^S  RESOLUTION 

THE  reports  which  came  to  Stuart  from 
the   several  commands  that  evening  in- 
cluded one  from  the  senior  lieutenant  of 
Baillie  Pegram's  battery.     After  reading  it,  Stu- 
art took  Agatha  aside,  and  said : 

"  I  have  news  which  it  will  not  be  pleasant  for 
you  to  hear.  Captain  Pegram  is  badly  wounded, 
and  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

The  girl  paled  to  the  lips,  but  controlled  herself, 

and  replied  in  a  voice  constrained  but  Steady : 

"  Tell  me  about  it,  General  —  all  of  it,  please." 

"  I'll    tell   you    all    that   is   known.      Captain 

Pegram  is  an  unusually  energetic  officer,   with 

a  bad  habit  of  getting  himself  wounded.     His 

battery  to-day  was  in  the  extreme  advance,  but 

it  seems  that  a  little  hill  just  in  front  of  him 

interfered  with  the  fire  of  one  of  his  guns,  and 

so  he  advanced  with  that  piece  to  the  crest  of 

256 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

the  mound.  At  that  moment  the  enemy  made  a 
dash  at  that  point,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
retire  the  gun  to  prevent  its  capture.  Pegram 
gave  orders  to  that  effect,  and  they  were  executed. 
But  almost  as  the  orders  left  his  lips,  he  fell  from 
his  horse  with  a  bullet-hole  through  his  body. 
His  men  tried  to  bring  him  off,  but  that  involved 
the  risk  of  losing  the  gun,  so  he  peremptorily 
ordered  them  to  save  the  gun  and  leave  him  where 
he  lay.  The  enemy's  line  swarmed  over  the  little 
hill,  and  when  our  men  recovered  it,  Pegram  was 
nowhere  to  be  found.  The  enemy  had  evidently 
carried  him  to  the  rear  to  care  for  him  as  a 
wounded  prisoner." 

"  Can  anything  be  done  ?  "  the  girl  asked,  still 
with  an  apparent  calm  that  would  have  deceived 
a  less  sagacious  observer  than  Stuart. 

"  I  could  send  a  flag  of  truce  to-morrow  to  ask 
concerning  him,  but  it  would  be  of  no  use.  You 
see  the  enemy  refuses  as  yet  to  recognise  our 
rights  as  belligerents,  and  will  not  communicate 
with  us  in  proper  form.  Their  answer  would  come 
back  addressed  to  me,  but  carefully  lacking  all 
indication  of  my  character  as  an  officer  in  the 
Confederate  army.  Under  my  orders  I  could 

257 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

not  receive  a  communication  so  addressed.  It 
would  be  of  no  use,  therefore,  to  inquire,  and  in 
any  case  we  could  not  secure  his  exchange,  as  we 
have  now  no  exchange  cartel  in  force.  I  do  not 
see  that  we  can  do  anything." 

The  young  woman  stood  silent  for  a  full 
minute,  while  Stuart  looked  at  her,  full  of  an 
admiration  for  the  courage  she  was  manifesting. 
At  last  she  asked : 

"  General,  will  you  send  to  the  camp  of  Cap- 
tain Pegram's  battery,  and  bid  his  servant  report 
here  to  me  at  once?  " 

For  reply  Stuart  called  Corporal  Hagan  — 
the  swarthy  giant  who  had  charge  of  his  couriers 
—  and  ordered  him  to  send  a  courier  on  Agatha's 
mission  without  delay. 

Half  an  hour  later  Sam  presented  himself  with 
eyes  red  from  weeping,  and  Agatha  proceeded 
at  once  to  business. 

"  You  care  a  great  deal  for  your  master,  don't 
you,  Sam?" 

"  Kyar  for  Mas'  Baillie?  Ain't  I  his  nigga? 
An'  ain't  he  de  mastah  of  Warlock?  Kyar  for 
him?  Why,  Mis'  Agatha,  I'se  ready  to  lay  down 

258 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

an'  die  dis  heah  very  minute  'case  he's  done  got 
hisse'f  shot  an'  captured." 

"  Then  you  are  willing  to  take  some  risks  for 
his  sake?  " 

"  Sho'  as  shootin'  I  is.  Yes,  sho'er'n  shootin', 
'case  shootin'  ain't  always  sho'.  Jes'  you  tell  me 
how  to  do  anything  for  Mas'  Baillie,  an'  then 
bet  all  the  money  you  done  got,  an'  put  your 
mortal  soul  into  de  bet,  dat  Sam'll  face  de  very 
debil  hisse'f  to  carry  out  yer  'structions." 

"  I  believe  you,  Sam,  and  I'm  going  to  trust 
you.  You  will  go  with  me  to  Willoughby  to- 
morrow. We'll  start  soon  in  the  morning  and 
get  there  before  night.  From  there  I'm  going 
to  send  you  north  to  find  your  master.  I'll  tell 
you  how  to  do  it.  When  you  find  him,  you  are 
to  stay  with  him  and  nurse  him,  no  matter  where 
he  is.  And  when  he  gets  well  enough,  you  must 
find  some  way  of  setting  him  free  from  the  hos- 
pital so  that  he  can  make  his  way  back  to  Virginia 
again." 

"  But,  Mis'  Agatha,  how's  I  to  —  " 

"  Never  mind  the  details  now.  I'll  tell  you 
about  all  that  when  I  get  my  plans  ready.  I'll 
tell  you  everything  you  must  do  and  how  to  do 

259 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

it,  so  far  as  I  can,  and  you  must  depend  on  your 
wits  for  the  rest.     You're  pretty  quick,  I  think." 

"  Yes'm ;  anyhow  I  kin  see  through  a  mill- 
stone ef  there's  a  hole  through  it.  But,  Mis' 
Agatha,  is  you  sho'  'nuff  gwine  to  tell  me  how 
to  fin'  Mas'  Baillie  an'  take  kyar  o'  him?" 

Agatha  reassured  him,  and  sent  him  off  to 
sleep  in  order  to  be  ready  for  their  early  start 
in  the  morning.  Then  she  joined  Stuart  and 
asked  him: 

"  Did  you  pick  up  any  prisoners  near  the  point 
where  Captain  Pegram  fell  ?  " 

"  I  really  don't  know.     Why?  " 

"  Why,  if  you  did  you'd  know  to  what  com- 
mand they  belonged,  and  that  would  help  me." 

"  Help  you?    Why,  what  are  you  planning?  " 

"  To  find  Captain  Pegram." 

"But  how?" 

"  Through  my  agents,  —  and  Sam,  his  body- 
servant." 

"  O,  I  see.  Your  underground  railroad  is  to 
have  a  passenger  traffic.  I'll  find  out  what  you 
wish  to  know.  And  if  you'd  like  I'll  have  Sam 
passed  through  our  lines,  after  which  he  can 
pretend  to  be  a  runaway." 
260 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

"  I  thought  of  that,"  Agatha  answered,  "  but 
it  will  not  do.  I  must  send  him  through  my 
friends.  You  see  in  Maryland  he'll  require  a 
slave's  pass  from  a  master,  and  my  friends  will 
be  his  masters,  one  after  another.  Besides,  they 
will  help  me  find  out  in  what  hospital  Captain 
Pegram  is.  I've  thought  it  all  out.  I  must  first 
prepare  my  friends  for  Sam's  coming.  With 
your  permission  I'll  take  him  with  me  to  Wil- 
loughby  to-morrow." 

"  You  are  a  wonderful  woman !  " 

That  is  all  that  Stuart  said,  but  it  sufficiently 
suggested  the  admiration  he  felt  for  her  courage, 
her  resourcefulness,  and  her  womanly  devotion. 
Bidding  her  call  upon  him  for  any  assistance  she 
might  need  in  carrying  out  her  plans,  he  dis- 
missed her  for  the  night,  ordering  her  to  go  to 
sleep  precisely  as  he  might  have  ordered  a  soldier 
to  go  to  his  tent.  But  Agatha  did  not  obey  as 
the  soldier  would  have  done.  She  went  to  bed, 
indeed,  but  she  could  not  sleep.  Her  nerves  were 
all  a-quiver  as  the  result  of  the  trying  experiences 
to  which  she  had  been  subjected,  until  now  her 
excited  brain  simply  would  not  sink  into  quietude. 
She  lay  hour  after  hour  staring  into  the  darkness, 

26l 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

thinking,  thinking,  thinking.  She  remembered 
the  words  that  suffering  on  her  account  had  wrung 
from  Baillie  Pegram  that  morning  at  the  bivouac, 
and  she  bitterly  reproached  herself  for  having 
given  him  no  worthier  answer  than  a  command  to 
forget  what  he  had  said.  She  knew  now  with 
what  measure  of  devotion  this  man  loved  her, 
and  she  knew  something  else,  too,  as  she  lay 
there  in  the  darkness  face  to  face  with  her  own 
soul.  She  knew  now  that  she  loved  Baillie 
Pegram  with  all  that  was  best  in  her  proud  and 
passionate  nature.  That  truth  confronted  her. 
It  was  "  naked  and  not  ashamed."  Her  con- 
science scourged  her  for  what  she  regarded  as 
her  heartlessness  and  frivolity  in  putting  aside 
his  declaration  of  love  with  the  false  pretence  that 
it  found  no  response  in  her  own  soul. 

"  I  might  at  least  have  thanked  him,"  she 
thought.  "  I  might  at  least  have  said  to  him 
'  there  is  no  longer  war  between  me  and  thee.' 
And  now  he  lies  dead  perhaps,  or  on  a  bed  of 
suffering,  —  a  wounded  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  All  that  I  can  now  do  is  to  search 
him  out  and  send  Sam  to  nurse  and  comfort  him." 
Then  a  new  thought  came  to  her.  "  That  is  not 
262 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

all  that  I  can  do.  Shame  upon  me  for  thinking  so, 
even  for  a  moment.  I  can  go  to  him  myself,  and 
I  will,  if  God  lets  him  live  long  enough.  I'll 
take  Sam  with  me.  He  can  be  very  helpful  in 
the  search,  with  his  sharp  wits  and  the  freedom 
from  suspicion  which  his  black  face  will  secure 
him." 

The  dawn  was  breaking  now,  and  a  score  of 
bugles  were  musically  sounding  the  reveille  in 
the  camps  round  about.  Agatha  rose  quickly, 
and  without  summoning  her  weary  maid,  plunged 
her  face  into  a  basin  of  cold  water  half  a  dozen 
times.  Then  seeing  in  her  little  mirror  how 
hollow-eyed  and  haggard  she  was,  she  wetted 
a  towel  and  flagellated  herself  with  it  till  the 
colour  came  back  and  her  nerves  lost  their  tremu- 
lousness. 

So  great  a  transformation  did  this  treatment 
work,  that  Stuart  complimented  her  upon  her 
freshness  of  face  when  she  appeared  at  the  break- 
fast-table. He  had  meanwhile  secured  for  her 
definite  information  as  to  the  Federal  command 
that  had  made  Pegram  prisoner.  He  had  also 
managed  in  some  way  to  secure  a  side-saddle 
for  her  to  ride  upon,  and  a  squad  of  cavalrymen, 

263 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

under  command  of  a  sergeant,  was  waiting  out- 
side to  be  her  escort  on  her  journey. 

"  Thank  you,  General,  for  giving  me  so  good 
a  mount,"  she  said,  glancing  with  a  practised 
eye  at  the  lean  but  powerful  animal  provided 
for  her  use." 

"  You  should  have  a  better  one,  if  a  better 
were  to  be  had.  You  deserve  it.  By  the  way, 
you  need  not  send  the  horse  back  by  the  escort. 
He  will  not  be  needed  here,  for  a  time  at  least." 

Agatha  looked  at  him,  and  then  at  the  animal 
again,  this  time  recognising  it  as  the  one  that 
Baillie  Pegram  had  ridden  by  her  side  twenty- 
four  hours  before. 

"  He  belongs  to  Captain  Pegram,  I  believe," 
she  answered. 

"  Yes,  his  second  horse,  and  he  is  specially 
careful  of  him." 

"  I'll  see  that  the  animal  is  well  cared  for," 
answered  the  girl,  "  until  —  " 

She  did  not  finish  the  sentence,  and  Stuart 
turned  away,  pretending  not  to  see  the  tears  that 
stood  beneath  her  eyelids. 


264 


XX 

TWO   HOME  •  COMINGS 

NEWS  of  Agatha's  safe  return  to  Virginia 
had  been   sent  to   Colonel  Archer  by  a 
courier,  on  the  morning  of  her  arrival  at 
Stuart's     headquarters,     and    the    octogenarian 
promenaded  up  and  down  the  porch  all  the  next 
day,  during  her  homeward  journey. 

He  had  greatly  grieved  to  have  his  "  ladybird  " 
undertake  her  late  perilous  enterprise  at  all. 
But  with  him  at  least  Agatha  was  accustomed  to 
have  her  way,  and  moreover  the  spirit  of  the  old 
soldier  was  strong  within  him  still,  so  that  he 
was  intensely  in  sympathy  with  Agatha's  coura- 
geous purpose  to  render  such  service  as  a  woman 
might  to  the  cause  that  both  had  at  heart. 

But  Agatha  had  a  harder  task  before  her  now. 
Remembering  the  heart-broken  tone  in  which  he 
had  bidden  her  good-bye  on  the  former  occasion, 
and  easily  imagining  the  suffering  he  must  have 

265 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

endured  during  her  absence,  both  from  loneliness 
and  from  apprehension  for  her  safety,  she 
thought  with  something  like  terror  of  her  new 
necessity  of  leaving  him  again,  almost  in  the  very 
hour  of  his  joy  at  her  return.  For  it  was  her 
resolute  purpose  to  set  out  again  within  a  very 
few  days,  —  as  soon,  indeed,  as  she  could  feel 
confidence  that  her  preliminary  letters  would 
reach  their  destination  before  her  own  arrival 
there. 

There  were  other  matters  that  troubled  her, 
too.  She  must  tell  her  Chummie  the  reason  for 
her  second  journey,  and  that  would  be  a  distress- 
ing thing  for  her  to  do.  She  must  tell  him 
frankly  —  for  she  would  never  in  the  least  trifle 
with  truth,  especially  in  dealing  with  him  — 
that  she  had  learned  to  love  Baillie  Pegram,  and 
that  she  had  in  effect  put  it  out  of  possibility  that 
Baillie  Pegram  should  ever  ask  for  knowledge  of 
that  fact. 

To  a  woman  of  her  sensitively  proud  nature, 
such  a  confession,  even  to  her  grandfather,  seemed 
almost  shameful.  She  shrank  from  the  very 
thought  of  it,  and  flushed  crimson  every  time  it 
came  to  her  mind  during  that  long  day's  ride. 
266 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

Yet  not  for  one  moment  did  she  falter  in  her 
determination  to  undergo  the  ordeal.  Not  for 
one  moment  did  she  entertain  a  thought  of  evad- 
ing the  painful  confession,  or  in  any  way  dis- 
guising the  truth.  So  much  was  due  to  her 
grandfather,  and  never  in  her  life  had  she 
cheated  him  of  his  dues  as  Chummie.  It  was  due 
to  herself  also.  To  shrink  from  a  duty  because 
of  its  painfulness  would  be  cowardice,  and  there 
was  no  touch  or  trace  of  that  most  detestable 
weakness  in  her  soul. 

"  Anyhow,"  she  resolved,  "  I'll  let  him  have 
one  whole  day  of  joy  before  I  grieve  him  with 
the  news  that  I  must  go  away  again.  And  in 
telling  him  of  my  first  journey  I'll  say  as  little 
as  I  can  about  the  dangers  encountered  and  the 
hardships  endured :  I'll  make  as  much  of  a  frolic 
of  it  as  I  can  in  the  telling.  Surely  there  will 
be  no  untruth  fulness  in  that." 

That  day's  journey  was  a  long  one.  but  the 
start  was  early,  and  Baillie  Pegram's  horse  was 
a  willing  one,  as  tHat  energetic  young  man's 
horses  were  apt  to  be,  while  as  for  the  troopers 
of  the  escort,  they  and  their  horses  were  accus- 
tomed to  follow  at  any  pace  their  leader  might 

267 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

sc  .  It  was  barely  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
therefore,  when  the  cavalcade  arrived  at  Wil- 
loughby,  and  Agatha  threw  herself  into  the  old 
gentleman's  arms. 

"Oh,  Agatha!" 
."Oh,  Chummie!" 

That  at  first  was  all  that  the  two  could  say. 
When  Colonel  Archer  found  voice  he  greeted  the 
troopers  and  bade  them  leave  their  horses  to  the 
care  of  his  servants.  For  the  men  were  of  that 
class,  socially,  to  which  Colonel  Archer  belonged, 
and  there  was  no  thought  at  that  time  in  Virginia 
of  .treating  a  gentleman  otherwise  than  as  a 
gentleman,  merely  because  he  happened  to  be  a 
private  soldier. 

"  You  will  be  my  guests  for  the  night,"  the 
host  said,  quite  as  if  that  settled  the  matter.  But 
the  sergeant  had  orders  which  he  must  obey,  — 
orders  which  Stuart,  with  his  unfailing  foresight, 
had  probably  given,  to  make  sure  that  the  pres- 
ence of  his  men  at  Willoughby  overnight  might 
not  spoil  an  occasion  of  tender  affection. 

"Thank  you  very  cordially,  Colonel  Archer," 
answered  the  sergeant ;  "  but  we  are  under  orders 
to  move  on  toward  Loudoun  County  to-night. 
268 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

We  are  permitted  to  rest  the  horses  for  three 
hours  only.  After  that  we  must  march  about  a 
dozen  miles  before  sleeping,  so  that  we  may  com- 
plete a  little  scouting  expedition  into  Loudoun  to- 
morrow. Our  orders  on  that  point  are  peremp- 
tory." 

"  Well,  Ladybird,  we'll  have  the  gentlemen  to 
dinner  at  any  rate.  As  soon  as  I  heard  of  your 
coming  I  went  out  with  my  gun,  and  brought 
back  two  big  wild  turkeys,  as  fat  as  butter.  I 
thought  you  might  come  under  escort,  so  I've 
had  them  put  both  the  birds  on  the  spit.  I'll 
wager  you  gentlemen  haven't  seen  a  wild  turkey 
this  fall." 

So  he  ran  on  with  his  hospitable  greetings, 
managing  in  his  joyous  nervousness  to  upset  two 
of  the  glasses  which  he  had  ordered  a  servant  to 
bring  with  the  decanters,  for  the  troopers'  re- 
freshment. Agatha  managed  presently  to  get  a 
word  with  him  aside. 

"  It  is  three  o'clock,  Chummie  —  an  hour  be- 
fore dinner.  I'll  have  time  enough  to  boil  myself 
a  little.  Think  of  it,  Chummie,  I  haven't  had  a 
hot  bath  for  a  whole  week ! "  Then  turning  to 

269 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

her  escort  she  excused  herself  until  the  dinner- 
hour. 

This  was  an  unhappy  circumstance,  as  Agatha 
learned  when  she  came  down,  fresh-faced,  to  the 
dinner.  For,  left  alone  with  the  troopers,  the  old 
gentleman  naturally  asked  them  concerning  the 
details  of  her  coming  into  Stuart's  lines,  and  as 
the  story  of  her  dash  through  the  canister  fire 
was  echoing  throughout  the  army,  the  young 
fellows  grew  enthusiastic  in  their  minute  descrip- 
tions of  her  peril  and  her  heroism.  When 
Agatha  reappeared,  therefore,  the  old  gentleman 
was  all  a-tremble.  He  met  her  at  the  foot  of  the 
stairway,  and  a  little  scene  followed,  which  told 
the  girl  not  only  that  he  knew  all  that  had  been 
most  harrowing  in  her  experiences,  but  that  the 
knowledge  of  it  would  make  her  coming  absence 
cruelly  hard  for  him  to  bear. 

At  dinner  he  found  himself  too  tremulous  to 
carve,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  he  relin- 
quished that  most  hospitable  of  all  a  host's  offices 
to  the  younger  men. 

"  Never  mind,  Ladybird,"  he  said,  cheerily,  as 
he  saw  how  greatly  troubled  she  was,  "  it  will 
pass  presently,  and  you  shall  find  me  quite  myself 
270 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

again  in  the  morning.  We're  going  after  the 
birds,  you  know,  you  and  I.  I  haven't  allowed 
a  partridge  to  be  killed  on  the  plantation  this 
fall,  so  that  you  might  be  sure  of  a  good  day's 
sport  with  Chummie." 

Thus  it  came  about  that  as  the  old  man  and  the 
young  woman  sat  in  the  firelight  that  evening, 
after  the  troopers  were  gone,  Agatha  changed  her 
purpose  and  told  him  of  Baillie  Pegram.  Deli- 
cately, but  with  perfect  candour,  she  told  the 
whole  of  the  truth. 

"  I  learned  to  like  him  very  much  while  I  was 
in  Richmond  last  Christmas,  and  I  was  not  to 
blame  for  that,  was  I,  Chummie?  He  was  so 
kind  to  me,  so  good  in  a  thousand  little  ways, 
so  gentle  in  all  his  strength  that  he  reminded 
me  of  you,  more  than  anybody  else  ever  did.  I 
used  often  to  think  that  he  was  very  much  the 
sort  of  man  you  must  have  been  when  you  were 
in  your  twenties.  There  was  no  reason,  that  I 
knew  of,  why  I  should  not  like  him.  He  was  a 
gentleman,  the  representative  of  one  of  the  best 
families  in  the  State,  a  man  of  the  highest  char- 
acter, well-educated,  travelled,  intellectual,  and  of 
charming  manners.  He  did  more  than  anybody 

271 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

else  —  or  everybody  else  for  that  matter  —  to 
make  the  time  pass  pleasantly  for  me.  You  see 
how  it  was,  don't  you,  Chummie?  " 

The  old  gentleman  nodded  his  head  with  a 
smile,  and  answered : 

"  I  see  how  it  was,  Ladybird.  Go  on.  Tell 
me  all  about  it." 

"  Then  one  day  there  came  a  letter  from  The 
Oaks.  It  wasn't  just  a  scolding  letter.  It  was 
something  much  worse  than  that.  For  if  my 
aunts  had  scolded  me,  I  shouldn't  have  stood  it." 

"  What  would  you  have  done,  Ladybird  ?  " 
asked  the  grandfather,  with  a  look  of  pleased 
and  loving  pride  upon  his  countenance. 

"  I  should  have  come  back  to  Willoughby  and 
you." 

"  And  right  welcome  you  would  have  been. 
But  go  on.  What  did  the  old  cats  —  psha !  I 
didn't  mean  that;  I  thought  I  heard  a  cat  yowling 
as  I  spoke  —  what  did  the  good  ladies  of  The 
Oaks  say  to  you  ?  " 

"  O,  they  wrote  very  kindly  and  sorrowfully. 

They  were  shocked  to  know  that  I  had  permitted 

something    like    intimacy   to    grow    up    between 

myself  and  a  young  man  without  consulting  them 

272 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

as  to  the  proprieties  of  the  situation.  But  how 
could  I  have  done  that,  Chummie?  You  see  I 
didn't  sit  down  and  say,  '  I'm  going  to  be  inti- 
mate with  this  young  man  if  my  aunts  approve.' 
The  friendship  just  grew,  quite  naturally,  like 
the  grass  on  a  lawn.  I  didn't  think  about  it  at  all, 
and  I  don't  see  why  I  should.  I  met  Mr.  Pegram 
in  all  the  best  houses;  everybody  was  fond  of 
him,  and  everybody  spoke  of  him  in  the  highest 
terms.  Why  should  I  think  —  " 

"  You  shouldn't,  Ladybird.  I  should  have 
been  ashamed  of  you  if  you  had.  Only  a  vain  or 
morbidly  self-conscious  girl  would  have  thought 
in  such  a  case.  And  only  —  there  goes  that  con- 
founded cat  again  —  only  elderly  gentlewomen  of 
secluded  lives  and  a  badly  perverted  sense  of  pro- 
priety would  ever  have  thought  of  such  a  thing. 
But  continue,  my  child.  I  suppose  they  told  you 
about  that  idiotic  old  quarrel  —  " 

"Yes,  Chummie — they  told  me  and  they  didn't 
tell  me.  They  never  would  say  what  it  was  all 
about,  or  how  much  there  was  in  it.  Indeed, 
they  told  me  I  was  guilty  of  a  great  irreverence 
in  even  asking  concerning  it.  They  said  it  should 
be  quite  enough  for  a  well-ordered  young  woman 

273 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

to  know  that  these  people  were  my  father's  ene- 
mies. As  Mr.  Baillie  Pegram  never  knew  my 
father,  I  couldn't  understand  why  he  and  I 
should  be  enemies,  but  when  I  said  something 
like  that,  I  saw  that  the  aunties  were  terribly 
shocked.  I  suppose  I'm  not  a  '  well-ordered ' 
young  lady,  Chummie." 

"  No !  Thank  God  you're  not.  You  are  just 
a  sweet,  wholesome,  lovable  girl  —  and  that  is 
very  different  from  what  those  old  —  ladies  call 
a  '  well-ordered  '  young  woman." 

"  Well,  anyhow,"  the  girl  resumed,  "  I  obeyed 
my  instructions.  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Pegram,  telling 
him  there  could  be  no  friendship  between  him 
and  me,  and  do  you  know,  Chummie,  they 
blamed  me  more  for  that  than  for  all  the  rest. 
They  said  it  was  '  unladylike '  and  a  lot  more 
things,  for  me  to  write  to  him  at  all.  But  I 
never  could  find  out  what  they  thought  I  ought 
to  have  done.  I  couldn't  break  off  the  acquaint- 
ance without  telling  him  I  must  do  so,  could  I  ?  " 

"  You  couldn't,  and  I'm  glad  you  couldn't.    A 

'  well-ordered '  young  lady  would  have  done  it 

easily.     She  would  have  told  a  lot  of  lies  about 

not  being  at  home  when  he  called,  or  having  a 

274 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

headache  when  he  wanted  to  see  her.  You 
couldn't  do  that  because  you  are  honest  and  truth- 
ful, and  that's  the  best  thing  about  you,  except 
your  love  for  your  old  Chummie,  and  even  that 
wouldn't  be  of  much  account  if  I  couldn't  trust 
its  truth  and  sincerity.  Go  on,  child.  I  didn't 
mean  to  interrupt." 

"  O,  but  you  must  interrupt.  That's  the  only 
way  I  know  what  you're  thinking.  Well,  I  went 
to  The  Oaks  sometime  later,  and  while  there  I 
went  out  one  morning  for  a  ride  by  myself.  My 
poor  horse  broke  his  leg,  as  I  told  you  in  a 
letter,  and  Mr.  Baillie  Pegram  happened  along, 
and  was  very  kind  in  helping  me  out  of  my 
trouble.  He  insisted  that  I  should  ride  his  mare 
home.  I  tried  all  I  could  to  refuse,  but  he  showed 
me  that  I  simply  could  not  help  myself,  and  so 
I  took  the  mare,  —  the  same  one  that  was  killed 
under  him  at  Manassas.  That  time  the  aunties 
did  actually  scold  me,  or  pretty  nearly  that.  So 
I  rebelled,  and  made  up  my  mind  to  come  back 
to  you  at  once.  Mr.  Pegram  dined  at  The  Oaks 
on  the  day  before  I  started,  and  he  and  I  had  a 
long  talk,  but  of  course  it  could  not  change  the 
situation.  That  was  the  last  I  saw  of  him  until 

275' 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

the  day  before  the  battle  of  Manassas,  when  he 
took  a  red  feather  out  of  my  hat  and  wore  it  in 
the  battle.  He  was  terribly  wounded  in  the  fight, 
but  he  sent  the  feather  back  to  me  as  he  had  prom- 
ised to  do.  I  had  quoted  to  him  or  let  him  quote 
to  me  the  Indian's  defiance,  '  There  is  war  be- 
tween me  and  thee.'  It  was  after  that  that  he 
insisted  upon  taking  the  feather  and  wearing  it 
through  the  battle." 

The  girl  paused,  but  her  grandfather  said  noth- 
ing for  a  whole  minute.  Perhaps  he  felt  that  she 
needed  the  pause  before  speaking  further.  At 
last  he  said,  very  low  and  gently : 

"  Tell  me  about  yesterday  morning." 

She  did  so,  sparing  herself  at  no  point.  She 
told  of  Baillie's  outburst,  and  of  the  declaration 
of  his  love.  She  told,  too,  of  her  chilling  answer, 
and  her  perversity  in  so  managing  the  conversa- 
tion as  to  prevent  a  recurrence  to  the  subject. 
Finally  she  broke  down,  saying  with  streaming 
eyes: 

"Oh,  Chummie!  I  Have  ruined  his  life  —  and 
my  own ! " 

"  I  don't  know  so  well  about  that.     He  may 
recover,  you  know." 
276 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

"  Yes,  I  know.  But  what  then  ?  "  At  that 
she  laid  her  head  upon  the  old  man's  breast  and 
let  herself  become  a  little  child  again,  in  an 
abandonment  of  grief.  And  with  a  childlike 
confidence  and  candour  she  said  at  last: 

"Oh,  Chummie!  Don't  you  understand?  He 
can  never  know.  He  will  always  think  of  me 
as  hard  and  cold  and  unresponsive.  After  what 
I  said  to  him  yesterday  morning,  he  cannot  again 
tell  me  —  why,  Chummie,  it  was  as  bad  as  if  I 
had  slapped  him  in  the  face !  " 

The  old  man  caressed  her  till  her  agitation  sub- 
sided. Then,  speaking  in  a  tone  of  wisdom  which 
irresistibly  carried  conviction  with  it,  he  said: 

"  You  are  wholly  wrong,  Agatha.  Baillie 
Pegram  is  much  too  brave  and  true,  and  much 
too  generous  a  man  to  let  this  matter  rest  where 
it  is.  If  he  recovers,  as  I  pray  God  he  may,  be 
very  sure  he  will  come  to  you  again  and  tell  you 
calmly  what  he  blurted  out  without  meaning  to 
do  so,  under  stress  of  a  trying  situation.  You 
must  go  to  sleep  now,  little  girl.  You  are  very 
weary  and  greatly  overwrought.  And  we  must 
be  up  with  the  sun  to-morrow  on  account  of  the 

277 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

birds.  Good  night,  dear.  You  must  never  leave 
me  again  while  I  live." 

There  was  unsteadiness  in  his  step,  as  he  gal- 
lantly ushered  her  through  the  doorway,  and  as 
he  returned  to  the  room  to  extinguish  the  solitary 
lamp.  Then  a  heaviness  came  over  him,  and  he 
sat  down  again  in  his  easy  chair  before  the  fire. 
The  logs  had  ceased  to  blaze  and  crackle  now, 
but  the  old  man  sat  still.  The  logs  fell  into  a 
mass  of  glowing  coals  after  a  time,  and  slowly  the 
coals  ceased  to  glow.  One  by  one  they  went  out. 
Still  he  did  not  move. 

There  were  only  ashes  in  the  great  fireplace 
when  the  morning  came  and  Agatha  found  her 
Chummie  still  sitting  there  where  the  fire  of  his 
life  had  so  gently  gone  out. 


278 


XXI 

AT  PARTING 

NEWS  of  Colonel  Archer's  death  ran  rap- 
idly through  a  State  of  which  he  had  been 
one  of  the  foremost  citizens,  by  reason 
alike  of  his  public  services  and  his  private  virtues. 
It  quickly  reached  Stuart's  ears,  and  he  promptly 
sent  a   courier   with   a   letter  of   sympathy  and 
friendship,  at  the  end  of  which  he  wrote : 

"  Now,  my  dear  Miss  Agatha,  I  crave  a  favour 
at  your  hands.  Your  grandfather  was  a  soldier 
greatly  distinguished  in  two  wars.  He  should 
have  a  soldier's  burial,  and  with  your  permission, 
which  I  take  for  granted,  I  am  ordering  a  com- 
pany of  dragoons  and  a  battery  now  stationed  at 
Warrenton  and  under  my  command,  to  move  at 
once  to  Willoughby,  and  there  pay  the  last 
honours  to  the  veteran." 

Heart-broken  as  she  was,  Agatha  met  calamity 
with  a  fortitude  which  astonished  even  herself. 

279 


The      Master    of    Warlock 

She  was  still  scarcely  more  than  a  girl,  but  the 
blood  of  a  soldier  filled  her  veins,  —  a  soldier  who 
had  never  flinched  from  danger  or  murmured 
under  suffering.  "  I  too  will  neither  flinch  nor 
murmur,"  she  said  to  herself.  "  Chummie  would 
like  it  best  to  see  me  brave  and  resolute,  if  he 
could  know  —  and  perhaps  he  does  know.  I 
will  bear  myself  as  he  would  like  me  to." 

And  she  kept  that  vow  to  the  letter.  The  tears 
would  mount  to  her  eyelids  now  and  then  in  spite 
of  her  and  trickle  down  her  cheeks ;  but  they  were 
silent  tears,  accompanied  by  no  moanings  that 
were  audible ;  they  were  the  tears  of  heart-break, 
not  the  tears  of  weakness  and  self-pity.  They 
were  hidden  for  the  most  part  from  human  view, 
and  resolutely  restrained  in  the  presence  of  others. 
And  when  any  of  those  who  thronged  about  her 
for  her  consolation  caught  momentary  sight  of 
them,  the  effect  was  like  that  produced  when  a 
strong  man  weeps. 

When  the  soldiers  came  she  directed  an  atten- 
tive ministry  to  their  comfort,  and  after  the  last 
salutes  to  the  dead  had  been  fired  over  the  grave, 
she  turned  to  Captain  Marshall  Pollard,  whose 

280 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

battery  it  was  that  had  paid  that  tribute  of 
honour,  and  asked  in  a  steady  voice: 

"  Can  you  arrange  to  stay  at  Willoughby  over- 
night? I  have  need  to  talk  with  you  of  matters 
of  some  importance.  It  will  be  very  kind  and 
good  of  you,  if  you  can  manage  it." 

After  a  moment's  reflection,  Marshall  an- 
swered : 

"  I  can  stay  till  midnight,  and  that  will  give 
us  time  for  our  talk.  I  must  be  at  Warrenton  at 
reveille  in  the  morning,  but  my  horse  will  easily 
make  the  distance  if  I  start  by  one  o'clock." 

Then  he  spoke  a  few  words  in  a  low  tone  to  his 
lieutenant,  who  took  command  and  marched  the 
battery  away,  with  all  heads  bared  till  they  had 
passed  out  of  the  grounds. 

"  Let  us  not  talk  of  my  grandfather,  please," 
said  the  girl,  as  the  two  entered  the  drawing- 
room.  "  Not  that  I  shrink  from  that,"  she 
quickly  added.  "  It  can  never  be  painful  to  me 
to  speak  of  him.  But  it  might  distress  you.  You 
knew  him  and  loved  him  long  ago,  before  — 
before  you  and  I  quarrelled." 

She  did  not  shrink  from  this  reference  to  the 
past,  or  try  in  any  way  to  disguise  the  truth  of 

28l 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

it.  Her  mind  was  full  of  the  dear  dead  man's  last 
words  spoken  in  praise  of  her  courage  and  truth- 
fulness, and  she  was  more  resolute  than  ever  to 
live  up  to  the  character  he  had  approved  so  ear- 
nestly and  with  so  much  of  loving  admiration. 

"  I  think  we  did  not  quarrel,"  the  young  cap- 
tain responded ;  "  you  did  not,  at  any  rate.  I 
misjudged  you  cruelly,  and  in  my  anger  I  falsely 
accused  you  in  my  heart.  Believe  me,  Agatha," 
—  he  had  called  her  so  in  the  old  days,  and  the 
name  came  easily  to  his  lips  now,  —  "  believe  me 
when  I  say  that  I  have  outlived  all  that  bitterness. 
Let  us  be  true,  loyal  friends  hereafter,  friends 
who  know  and  trust  each  other,  friends  who  do 
not  misunderstand." 

The  girl  held  out  her  hand,  in  response,  and 
made  no  effort  to  hide  the  tears  with  which  she 
welcomed  this  healing  of  the  old  wounds. 

The  young  man,  too,  rejoiced  in  a  reconciliation 
which  laid  his  old  love  for  this  woman  for  ever  to 
rest  and  planted  flowers  of  friendship  upon  its 
grave.  He  was  astonished  at  his  own  condition 
of  mind  and  heart.  He  learned  now  the  truth 
that  his  mad  love  for  Agatha  had  become  com- 
pletely a  thing  of  the  past,  and  that  the  bitterness 
282 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

which  had  at  first  succeeded  it  was  utterly  gone. 
He  could  think  of  her  henceforth  with  a  tender 
affection  that  had  no  trace  of  passion  in  it.  The 
dead  past  had  buried  its  dead,  and  the  grass  grew 
green  above  it. 

At  that  moment  dinner  was  announced,  for 
Agatha  had  decreed  that  life  at  Willoughby 
should  at  once  resume  its  accustomed  order. 
"  Chummie  would  like  it  so,"  she  thought.  So 
the  two  friends  passed  through  the  hall  to  the 
dining-room  hand  in  hand,  just  as  they  had  so 
often  done  in  the  old  days  before  passion  had 
come  to  disturb  their  lives. 

Marshall  had  now  one  supreme  desire  with 
respect  to  Agatha,  —  a  great  yearning  to  com- 
fort her  and  help  her  as  a  brother  might.  He 
told  her  so,  when  they  returned  to  the  drawing- 
room  after  dinner,  to  sit  before  the  great  fire  of 
hickory  logs  during  all  the  remaining  hours  of 
Marshall's  stay. 

"  Tell  me  now,"  he  said,  "  of  your  plans,  that 
I  may  share  in  them  and  help  you  carry  them  out 
perhaps.  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  " 

"  I'm  going  to  find  Baillie  if  I  can,  and  nurse 
him  back  to  health  —  if  it  is  not  too  late." 

283 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  But  he  is  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  you 
know." 

"  Yes,  I  know.  That  makes  it  more  difficult, 
but  we  must  not  shrink  from  difficulties.  I  shall 
start  north  to-morrow." 

"But  how?  —  Tell  me  about  it,  please." 

She  explained  her  plans,  telling  him  of  the 
arrangements  she  had  made  for  bringing  medi- 
cines through  the  blockade,  transmitting  letters, 
and  finding  friends  at  every  step  in  case  of  need. 
Then  she  added : 

"  I'm  going  to  take  Sam  with  me  this  time. 
He  is  devoted  to  his  master,  and  his  sagacity  is 
extraordinary.  I  shall  depend  upon  him  to  help 
me  find  where  Baillie  is,  and  to  do  whatever 
there  is  to  do  for  him." 

"  Will  you  let  me  have  writing  materials?  "  the 
young  man  abruptly  asked. 

Without  asking  for  an  explanation,  she  brought 
her  lap  desk,  and  with  the  awkwardness  which 
a  man  always  manifests  in  attempting  to  use  that 
peculiarly  feminine  device,  he  managed  to  fill 
two  or  three  sheets.  When  he  had  done,  he 
handed  the  papers  to  her,  saying : 

"  I  can  really  help,  I  think.  You  will  need 
284 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

money  for  your  expenses.  You  must  have  it  in 
sufficient  supply  to  meet  all  emergencies,  so  that 
you  may  never  be  delayed  or  baffled  in  any  pur- 
pose for  want  of  it.  And  it  may  easily  happen 
that  you  shall  need  a  considerable  sum  at  once. 
Money  is  the  pass-key  to  many  difficult  doors.  It 
so  happens  that  I  have  a  very  considerable  sum 
invested  in  railroad  and  other  securities,  in  the 
hands  of  a  very  close  friend  of  mine  in  New 
York.  I  have  written  to  him  to  sell  out  the  whole 
of  them  and  place  the  proceeds  at  your  disposal 
in  any  banks  that  may  be  most  convenient  to 
you." 

"  But,  Marshall,  you  are  impoverishing  your- 
self —  " 

"  In  the  which  case,"  he  responded,  with  his 
gentle,  half-mocking  smile,  "  I  should  be  doing 
no  more  than  all  the  rest  of  us  Virginians  are 
doing  in  this  struggle.  But  I  am  doing  nothing 
of  the  kind.  I  have  a  plantation,  you  know,  and 
absolutely  nobody  dependent  upon  me.  If  I 
survive  the  war  I  shall  have  some  land,  at  any 
rate,  out  of  which  to  dig  a  living.  These  invest- 
ments of  mine  at  the  North  were  made  long 
before  the  war,  and  I  should  have  sold  them  out 

28*5 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

at  the  beginning  of  the  trouble  if  I  hadn't  been 
too  lazy  to  attend  to  my  affairs.  I'm  glad  now 
that  I  was  lazy.  It  enables  me  to  help  the  two 
best  friends  I  ever  had  in  this  rather  lonely  world, 
—  Baillie  Pegram  and  you.  A  man  may  do  as 
he  likes  with  his  own,  you  know,  and  this  is  pre- 
cisely what  I  like  to  do  with  my  securities. 
Fortunately  my  friend  who  has  them  in  charge 
is  a  blue-blooded  Virginian,  who  would  be  fight- 
ing with  us  out  there  on  the  lines,  if  he  were  not 
a  helpless  cripple,  fit  for  nothing,  as  he  wrote  to 
me  when  the  trouble  came,  but  to  manage  his 
banking-house.  But  how  are  you  to  get  these 
papers  through  with  you,  without  risk  of  dis- 
covery ?  " 

"  I'll  make  Sam  carry  them,"  she  responded. 
"Nobody  will  ever  think  of  searching  him,  par- 
ticularly as  his  connection  with  my  affairs  will 
be  known  to  nobody  except  my  friends  and  co- 
conspirators." 

"  What  a  strategist  you  are,  Agatha !  What 
a  general  you  would  have  made  if  you'd  happened 
to  be  a  man ! "  exclaimed  the  young  man  in 
admiration. 

"  No,"  she  answered,  hesitating  for  a  moment, 
286 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

and  then  resolutely  going  on  to  speak  truthfully 
the  thought  that  was  in  her.  "  No,  Marshall,  for 
then  I  should  not  have  had  the  impulse  that 
teaches  me  now  what  to  do.  Tell  me  now,  about 
the  war.  Shall  I  find  Willoughby  occupied  as  a 
Federal  general's  headquarters  when  I  get  back 
to  Virginia  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  I  cannot  even  guess  what 
the  officials  at  Richmond  mean.  I  only  know 
we  have  thrown  away  an  opportunity  that  will 
never  come  back  to  us.  The  army  was  full  of 
enthusiasm  after  Manassas  —  it  is  discouraged 
and  depressed  now.  Then  it  was  strong  with  the 
hope  and  confidence  that  are  born  of  victory ;  now 
it  sits  there  wondering  when  the  enemy  will  be 
ready  for  it  to  fight  again.  It  was  fit  for  any 
enterprise  then,  and  the  enemy  was  utterly  unfit 
to  resist  anything  it  might  have  undertaken.  But 
it  was  not  permitted  to  undertake  anything.  It 
was  made  to  lie  still,  like  a  pointer  in  a  turkey 
blind,  quivering  with  eagerness  to  be  up  and 
doing,  but  restrained  by  the  paralysis  of  mis- 
directed authority.  While  we  have  been  doing 
nothing,  the  Federal  enemy  has  been  swollen  to 
more  than  twice  our  numbers.  More  important 

287 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

still,  it  has  been  fashioned  by  McClellan's  skilled 
hand  into  as  fine  a  fighting-machine  as  any  gen- 
eral need  wish  for  his  tool.  The  officers  have  been 
instructed  in  their  profession,  and  the  men  have 
been  taught  their  trade.  Their  organisation  is 
perfect,  their  discipline  is  almost  as  good  as  that 
of  regulars,  and  their  confidence  in  themselves  and 
their  commanders  is  daily  and  hourly  increasing. 
Our  men  have  abundant  confidence  in  themselves, 
but  none  at  all  in  generals  who  throw  away  their 
opportunities  or  in  a  government  that  touches 
nothing  without  paralysing  it.  Moreover,  the 
Federal  army  has  supply  departments  behind  it 
that  could  not  be  bettered,  while  ours  seem 
wholly  imbecile  and  incapable.  It  should  have 
been  obvious  to  every  intelligent  man  at  the  out- 
set, that  with  our  vastly  inferior  material  re- 
sources, our  best  chance  of  winning  in  this  war 
was  by  "bringing  to  bear  from  the  first  all  we 
could  of  dash  and  ceaseless  activity.  We  should 
have  taken  the  aggressive  at  once  and  all  the 
time,  knowing  that  every  day  of  delay  must 
strengthen  the  enemy  and  weaken  us.  Instead 
of  that,  after  winning  a  great  battle  in  such  fash- 
ion as  well-nigh  to  destroy  for  a  time  the  enemy's 
288 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

capacity  of  resistance,  we  have  taken  up  a  defen- 
sive attitude  and  let  the  precious  opportunity 
slip  from  our  grasp.  It  will  never  return.  I 
do  not  say  that  we  shall  be  beaten  in  the  end;  I 
say  only  that  our  task  is  immeasurably  more 
difficult  now  than  it  was  three  months  ago,  and 
it  is  growing  more  and  more  difficult  every  day." 

"  You  are  discouraged  then?  " 

"  No.  I  am  only  depressed.  As  for  courage, 
we  must  all  of  us  keep  that  up  to  the  end.  We 
must  be  brave  to  endure  as  well  as  to  fight,  — 
if  we  are  ever  graciously  permitted  to  fight  again. 
But  I  did  not  mean  to  talk  of  these  things.  I  am 
only  a  battery  captain.  I  have  no  business  to 
think.  But  unfortunately  our  army  is  largely 
composed  of  men  who  can't  help  thinking.  Tell 
me  now,  for  I  must  ride  presently,  is  there  any- 
thing that  I  can  do  for  you  —  any  way  in  which 
I  can  help  you  ?  " 

"You  will  be  helping  me  all  the  time,  just 
by  letting  me  feel  that  the  old  boy  and  girl 
friendship  is  mine  again.  That  is  more  precious 
to  me  than  you  can  imagine.  Good-bye,  now. 
Your  horse  is  at  the  door.  Thank  you  for  all, 
and  God  bless  you." 

289 


XXII 

SAM  AS   A   STRATEGIST 

AGATHA'S  second  progress  northward 
was  far  more  difficult  of  accomplishment 
than  the  first  had  been.  Under  McClel- 
lan's  skilled  vigilance  the  armed  mob  which  he 
found  "cowering  on  the  Potomac"  in  August,  had 
been  converted  into  an  army,  drilled,  disciplined, 
and  familiar  with  every  detail  of  that  military 
art  which  it  was  called  upon  to  practise.  The 
lines  west  of  Washington  were  far  more  rigidly 
drawn  and  more  fully  manned  than  before,  and 
the  officers  and  men  who  held  them  exercised  a 
vigilance  that  had  not  been  thought  of  a  few 
months  earlier. 

And  this  was  not  the  only  difficulty  that 
Agatha  encountered  in  her  effort  to  reach  Balti- 
more. A  passport  system  had  been  inaugurated 
at  the  North,  under  operation  of  which  those  who 
would  travel,  and  especially  those  who  travelled 
290 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

toward  Baltimore,  —  a  city  whose  loyalty  to  the 
Union  lay  under  grave  suspicion,  —  must  give  a 
satisfactory  account  of  themselves  in  order  to 
secure  the  necessary  papers.  War  had  begun  to 
bring  the  country  under  that  despotism  which 
military  force  always  and  everywhere  regards  as 
the  necessary  condition  of  its  effectiveness. 

It  was  a  strange  spectacle  that  the  country  pre- 
sented during  that  four  years  of  fratricidal  strife. 
A  great,  free  people,  the  freest  on  earth,  fell 
to  fighting,  one  part  with  another  part.  Each 
side  was  battling,  as  each  side  sincerely  believed, 
for  the  cause  of  liberty;  each  was  unsparingly 
spending  its  blood  and  treasure  in  order,  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  phrase,  that  "  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people  might  not  per- 
ish from  the  earth."  Yet  on  both  sides  a  military 
rule  as  rigorous  as  that  of  Russia  laid  its  iron 
hand  upon  the  people,  and  the  people  submitted 
themselves  to  its  exactions  almost  without  a  mur- 
mur. Arbitrary,  inquisitorial,  intolerant,  this 
military  despotism  wrought  its  will  both  at  the 
North  and  at  the  South,  overriding  laws  and 
disregarding  constitutions,  making  a  mockery  of 
chartered  rights,  and  restraining  personal  liberty 

291 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

in  ways  that  would  have  caused  instant  and  uni- 
versal revolt,  had  such  things  been  attempted  by 
civil  authority. 

The  military  arm  is  a  servant  which  is  apt  to 
make  itself  the  unrelenting  master  of  those  who 
invoke  its  assistance. 

Agatha  encountered  this  difficulty  while  yet 
inside  the  Confederate  lines.  She  was  not  per- 
mitted to  pass  in  any  northward  direction  upon 
any  pretence.  The  authorities  at  one  place  under 
Confederate  control  forbade  her  to  go  to  another 
place  under  like  control.  She  appealed  to 
Stuart  in  this  emergency,  and  although  his 
authority  did  not  extend  into  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  he  made  such  representations  to  the  com- 
mandants in  that  quarter  as  were  sufficient  for  her 
purposes. 

To  get  within  the  Federal  lines  was  a  still  more 
perplexing  problem.  One  device  after  another 
proved  ineffectual,  and  the  girl  was  almost  in 
despair.  She  appealed  at  last  to  the  general  in 
command  of  the  cavalry  in  that  region,  —  one  of 
those  to  whom  Stuart  had  written  in  her  behalf, 
—  and  he  promptly  responded : 

292 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

"  At  precisely  what  point  have  you  friends  in 
cooperation  with  you  ?  " 

She  named  a  little  town  within  the  Federal 
line  where  lived  some  of  her  nearest  friends. 

"  I  can  manage  that,"  he  said.  "  The  point 
is  an  insignificant  one  ten  miles  within  their  lines. 
There  are  pretty  certainly  no  troops  there,  and 
the  picket-lines  in  front  are  not  very  strong,  as 
nothing  could  be  more  improbable  than  the  raid 
I  shall  make  in  that  direction.  You  can  ride,  of 
course/' 

"  Of  course." 

"  Very  well.  I'll  take  a  strong  force,  make  a 
dash  through  the  picket-lines,  gallop  into  the  town, 
and  make  a  foray  through  the  region  round  about. 
You  will  follow  my  column  as  closely  as  you  can 
without  placing  yourself  under  fire,  and  when 
we  reach  the  town,  settle  yourself  with  your 
friends  there,  turning  your  horse  loose  lest  he 
attract  attention.  You'd  better  do  that  just  before 
we  reach  the  town,  and  walk  the  rest  of  the  way. 
Can  you  wear  a  walking-skirt  under  your  riding- 
habit,  and  slip  off  the  outer  —  you  see  I'm  a 
bachelor,  Miss  Ronald,  and  don't  understand  such 
things." 

293 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  You  may  safely  leave  all  that  to  my  superior 
feminine  sagacity.  When  shall  we  start?  " 

"  Whenever  you  wish.  Only  we'd  better  march 
in  the  afternoon  and  reach  the  town  after  night- 
fall. The  nights  are  very  dark  now,  and  you 
will  perhaps  be  able  to  escape  observation  in  the 
town.  Let  me  see,"  looking  at  his  watch,  "  it's 
now  half  past  one.  We  could  do  the  thing  this 
afternoon,  if  you  were  ready." 

"  I  can  be  ready  in  fifteen  minutes,"  she  replied. 

"  You're  very  prompt,"  the  officer  said,  with  a 
suggestion  of  admiration  in  his  voice. 

"  O,  I'm  half-soldier,  you  know.  General 
Stuart  approves  me." 

"  Very  well,  then.  We'll  march  in  half  an 
hour." 

The  operation  was  a  very  simple  one,  in  its 
military  part,  at  least.  The  expedition  was  com- 
posed of  a  force  much  too  strong  for  resistance 
by  the  handful  of  men  available  for  immediate 
use  on  the  enemy's  part.  In  the  guise  of  a  forag- 
ing party  it  easily  dispersed  the  picket-lines  and 
pushed  forward  rapidly,  taking  the  little  town 
in  its  course,  but  making  no  halt  there.  It  scoured 
the  country  round  about,  and  as  soon  as  Federal 
294 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

forces  began  to  gather  for  its  destruction,  it 
retreated  by  quite  a  different  route  from  that  by 
which  it  had  advanced. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  Agatha 
slipped  off  her  horse  in  the  little  Maryland  town 
and  left  it  in  charge  of  a  trooper.  A  five-min- 
utes' walk  brought  her  to  the  house  of  her  friends, 
where  she  was  safe. 

With  her  walked  her  negro  maid,  who  had 
ridden  behind  her.  That  maid's  name  was  Sam, 
and  he  quickly  divested  himself  of  the  feminine 
outer  garments  which  he  had  worn  over  his  own 
clothes.  This  device  had  been  of  Sam's  own 
invention,  for  that  worthy,  under  stress  of  circum- 
stances, was  rapidly  developing  into  something 
like  genius  that  gift  of  diplomacy  which  he  had 
before  employed  in  discouraging  his  mammy's 
efforts  to  make  him  her  assistant  in  the  kitchen. 
Sam  was  a  consummate  liar  whenever  lying 
seemed  to  him  to  be  necessary  or  even  useful.  In 
the  service  of  his  master  he  had  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  or  indeed  in  doing,  anything  that  might 
be  convenient,  and  during  her  long  stay  north  of 
the  Potomac  Agatha  was  far  more  deeply  in- 
debted to  Sam's  unscrupulousness  than  she  knew. 

295 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

For  when  he  found  that  his  mistress  had  con- 
scientious objections  to  his  methods,  he  simply 
forbore  to  mention  them  to  her,  and  carried  out 
his  plans  on  his  own  responsibility.  Long  after- 
ward, in  relating  the  experiences  of  this  time  to 
his  black  companions  at  Warlock,  he  made  it  an 
interesting  feature  of  his  discourse  to  keep  re- 
minding his  hearers  that,  "  Mis'  Agatha's  so  dam' 
hones'  dat  she  wouldn't  tell  a  lie  even  to  a 
Yankee." 

This  declaration  never  failed  to  open  the  eyes 
of  the  auditors  in  wonder,  and  to  bring  from 
their  lips  the  half-incredulous  response: 

"Well,   I   'clar  to  gracious!" 

It  was  Sam  who  devised  and  suggested  the 
next  step  in  the  present  journey.  Agatha's 
arrival  at  the  house,  under  cover  of  a  very  dark 
night,  had  been  unobserved  by  any  one  outside 
the  household,  but  it  was  obvious  that  her  remain- 
ing there  would  involve  grave  danger  of  dis- 
covery. Her  presence  could  not  be  concealed 
from  the  servants  of  the  household,  and  however 
loyal  these  might  be  to  their  mistress  and  her 
three  daughters,  who  constituted  the  family,  they 
would  very  certainly  talk,  the  more  especially,  if 
296 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

any  efforts  were  made  to  keep  the  visitor  in  hiding 
in  the  house.  In  a  town  so  small  —  it  was  only  a 
village,  in  fact  —  gossip  has  quick  wings,  and 
there  were  sure  to  be  some  persons  there  who 
would  promptly  report  to  the  military  that  a 
young  woman  from  beyond  the  lines  was  in 
hiding  in  the  town. 

The  whole  matter  was  discussed  in  family  con- 
clave during  the  night  of  Agatha's  coming,  and 
fortunately  Sam  was  present,  for  the  reason  that 
it  was  specially  necessary  to  conceal  from  the 
household  servants  the  interesting  fact  that  the 
"  maid  "  who  had  accompanied  a  young  lady  to 
the  place  was  in  truth  a  stalwart  negro  boy.  He 
remained  in  the  room,  therefore,  from  which  all 
the  servants  were  rigidly  excluded,  and  thus 
became  familiar  with  every  detail  of  the  puzzling 
situation.  After  ingenuity  had  been  fairly  ex- 
hausted in  devising  plans  only  to  reject  them  one 
after  another  as  impracticable,  Sam,  whose  mod- 
esty had  never  amounted  to  shyness,  boldly  broke 
into  the  conversation. 

"  As  I  figgers  it  out,  Mis'  Agatha,"  he  said, 
"  de  case  is  puffec'ly  clar.  We  cawn't  stay  heah, 
'thout  a-gittin'  tuk  up.  We  cawn't  go  back  South 

297 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

'thout  a-gittin'  tuk  up  an'  maybe  gittin'  hung 
in  de  bargain.  So  we  mus'  jes'  go  on  Norf,  now, 
immediately,  at  once." 

"  But  we  can't,  Sam.  You  don't  understand. 
We  can't  travel  without  passports." 

"  Couldn't  de  ladies  git  a  skyar  into  'em,  an' 
tell  de  Yankees  dey  jes'  cawn't  an'  won't 
stay  any  longer  in  a  town  whar  de  rebels  is 
a-comin'  gallopin'  through  de  streets,  a-yellin'  an' 
a-shootin'  an'  a-kickin'  up  de  ole  Harry? 
Wouldn't  de  Yankees  give  'em  passpo'ts  to  de 
Norf  den  ?  Wouldn't  dey  think  it  natch'rel  dat  a 
houseful  o'  jes'  ladies  what's  got  no  men-folks  to 
pertect  'em,  would  be  skyar'd  out  o'  der  seven 
senses  after  sich  a  performance  as  dis  heah  ?  " 

"  But,  Sam,"  interposed  his  mistress,  "  that 
wouldn't  do  me  any  good  or  you  either.  If  any- 
body asked  for  passports  for  you  and  me,  the 
officers  would  ask  who  we  are  and  where  we  came 
from,  and  all  about  it." 

"  Don't  ax  'em  fer  no  passpo't  fer  you.  Jes' 
let  de  other  ladies  ax  fer  passpo'ts  fer  demselves, 
an'  a  nigga  boy  to  drive  de  carriage.  I'll  be 
de  nigga  boy.  Den  one  o'  de  young  ladies  mout 
git  over  her  skyar  an'  jes'  stay  at  home,  quiet 
298 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

like,  an'  let  you  take  her  -place  in  de  carriage. 
De  young  lady  wouldn't  have  to  go  roun'  tellin' 
folks  she's  done  git  over  her  skyar  an'  stayed  at 
home.  Nobody'd  know  nuffin'  about  her  bein' 
heah  fer  a  week,  an'  by  dat  time  de  Yankees 
would  'a'  done  fergitten  how  many  folks  went 
away  in  de  carriage." 

After  some  discussion  it  was  agreed  that  Sam's 
plan,  in  its  general  outline  at  least,  was  feasible, 
and  as  there  was  no  alternative  way  out,  it  was 
finally  decided  to  adopt  the  scheme. 

"  You  mus'  do  it  right  away  den,"  suggested 
Sam,  "  while  de  skyar  is  on  to  folks.  Ef  you 
wait,  de  Yankees'll  fin'  out  de  trigger  o'  de  trap, 
sho'.  An'  after  awhile,  all  de  ladies  'ceptin'  you, 
Mis'  Agatha,  can  git  over  de  skyar  an'  come 
home  agin." 

Sam's  plan  was  aided  in  its  execution  by  the 
fact  that  several  other  families  in  the  town  were 
genuinely  scared  by  the  Confederate  raid,  and, 
as  soon  as  the  Federal  posts  were  reestablished, 
asked  for  passports  under  which  they  might  send 
their  women  and  children  to  less  exposed  points. 
When  Agatha's  hostess  made  a  like  application 
for  herself  and  daughters,  with  their  negro, 

299 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  Sam,  aged  eighteen,  five  feet  seven  inches 
high,"  and  all  the  rest  of  the  description,  no  diffi- 
culty was  encountered  in  securing  the  desired 
papers. 

In  order  that  Agatha  might  go  as  far  north- 
ward as  possible  without  having  to  renew  her 
passport,  it  was  decided  that  their  destination 
should  be  at  a  point  well  beyond  the  Pennsylvania 
border.  Agatha  had  no  friends  there,  and  she 
knew  no  one  of  Southern  sympathies  in  the  town 
selected.  But  thanks  to  Marshall  Pollard,  she 
had  command  of  money  in  plenty,  or  would  have, 
as  soon  as  she  could  send  the  papers  he  had  given 
her  to  New  York.  It  was  arranged,  therefore, 
that  the  little  party,  in  the  character  of  refugees, 
should  take  quarters  at  a  hotel  until  such  time 
as  Agatha  could  renew  her  journey  without  her 
companions.  In  the  meantime,  Agatha,  by  means 
of  correspondence  with  her  friends  in  Baltimore 
and  Washington,  could  prosecute  her  inquiries 
as  to  Baillie  Pegram's  condition  and  whereabouts. 


300 


XXIII 

A   NEGOTIATION 

AGATHA  did  not  remain  long  in  the  little 
Pennsylvania  town.  She  found  its  people 
to  be  positively  peppery  in  their  Union 
sentiments,  and  she  soon  realised  that  she  could 
make  no  inquiries  from  that  point  without  attract- 
ing dangerous  attention  to  herself.  She  saw,  too, 
that  the  little  city  was  not  large  enough  for  easy 
concealment.  She  could  not  there  lose  herself 
in  the  crowd  and  pass  unobserved  whithersoever 
she  pleased.  She  promptly  decided  that  her  best 
course  would  be  to  go  on  to  New  York,  but  even 
that  could  not  be  undertaken  with  safety  for  a 
time.  She  must  remain  where  she  was  for  two 
or  three  weeks  —  long  enough  for  her  presence 
there  to  lose  its  character  as  a  novelty. 

Sam,  who  enjoyed  her  confidence  to  the  full, 
suggested  that  she  should  feign  ill-health,  and 

301 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

leave  the  place  under  pretence  of  seeking  a  resi- 
dence better  suited  to  her  constitution.  That  was 
not  the  way  in  which  Sam  expressed  his  thought, 
of  course,  but  he  made  himself  clearly  understood 
by  saying: 

"  Tell  you  what  'tis,  Mis'  Agatha,  you'se  jes' 
got  to  git  powerful  sick  an'  say  you  cawn't  live 
in  no  sich  a  pesky  town  as  dis  here  one.  Den  you 
kin  pack  up  yer  things,  ef  you've  got  any,  an' 
move  on." 

Agatha  laughed,  and  answered: 

"  Why,  Sam,  I  don't  know  how  to  be  ill.  I 
never  had  a  headache  in  my  life,  and  I  couldn't 
look  like  an  invalid  if  I  tried.  No,  Sam,  we 
must  just  wait  here  for  a  time." 

"  Why,  Mis'  Agatha,  it's  de  easiest  thing  in 
de  world  to  make  out  as  how  you'se  sick  when 
you  ain't.  I'se  done  it  hundreds  of  times,  when 
mammy  wanted  me  to  wuk  in  de  kitchen  an'  I 
wanted  to  go  a-fishin'.  All  you  got  to  do  is  to 
look  solemncholy-like,  an'  say  you'se  got  a  pain 
in  yo'  haid  an'  a  powerful  misery  in  yo'  back, 
an'  cole  chills  a-creepin'  all  over  you.  Tell  you 
what,  it's  as  easy  as  nuffin'  at  all." 

Agatha  laughed  again,  but  put  Sam's  plan 
302 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

aside  without  further  discussion,  whereat  that 
budding  strategist  went  away  sorrowful,  mutter- 
ing to  himself: 

"  I  done  heah  folks  say  as  how  '  white  man's 
mighty  onsartain,'  but  Mis'  Agatha's  a  heap 
wuss'n  even  a  white  man,  leastwise  'bout  some 
things." 

A  week  later,  Sam  presented  another  plan, 
which  he  had  wrought  out  in  his  mind  at  cost 
of  not  a  little  gray  brain  matter. 

"  Mis'  Agatha,"  he  asked,  "  is  you  got  any 
frien's  in  New  York  what  you  kin  trus'  to  do 
what  you  axes  'em  to  do  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Sam.  There's  one  gentleman  there  who 
will  do  anything  I  ask  him  to  do.  He's  the  one 
to  whom  I  sent  the  papers  that  I  made  you  carry 
till  we  got  here." 

"  Den  you  kin  write  to  him  ?  " 

"  Yes,  certainly." 

"  Well,  now,  I'se  got  a  plan  dat'll  wuk  as  easy 
—  as  easy  as  playin'  of  de  banjo.  You  jes'  write 
to  dat  gentleman,  an'  git  him  to  sen'  you  a  tele- 
magraph,  sayin'  as  how  somebody's  a-dyin'  over 
there,  somebody  yo'se  powerful  fond  of,  an'  so 
you  mus'  come  quick." 

303 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

This  time  Sam's  suggestion  commended  itself 
to  his  mistress's  mind,  and  soon  afterward  there 
came  a  telegram  to  her,  saying : 

"  Come  quick  if  you  want  to  see  Eliza  alive." 

She  hurriedly  packed  the  few  belongings  which 
she  had  purchased  in  the  Pennsylvania  town,  bade 
her  friends  good-bye,  and  before  noon  of  the  next 
day,  was  safely  hidden  in  the  little  lodging  which 
Marshall  Pollard's  friend  had  secured  for  her  in 
New  York.  In  the  great  city  she  might  go  and 
come  and  do  as  she  pleased  without  fear  of  ob- 
servation, and  without  the  least  danger  of  attract- 
ing attention  to  herself.  There  is  no  solitude 
so  secure  as  that  of  a  thronged  city,  where  men 
are  too  completely  self-centred  to  concern  them- 
selves with  the  affairs  of  their  neighbours. 

Agatha's  first  inquiries  concerning  Baillie's 
whereabouts  were  directed  toward  the  military 
prisons  and  prison-camps,  but  in  none  of  them 
could  she  find  a  trace  of  the  master  of  Warlock. 
When  she  had  completely  exhausted  this  field 
of  inquiry,  a  great  fear  came  upon  her,  that  the 
man  she  sought  was  dead.  The  presumption  was 
strong  that  he  had  died  of  his  wound  before  he 
could  be  sent  to  any  of  the  prisons  provided  for 

304 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

captured  Confederates.  A  less  resolute  person 
would  have  accepted  that  conclusion,  but  Agatha 
persisted  in  her  search,  extending  her  inquiries 
to  all  the  hospitals  of  the  Federal  army,  and  within 
a  month  her  persistence  was  rewarded. 

What  she  learned  was  that  Baillie  Pegram's 
wound  had  been  too  severe  to  admit  of  his  trans- 
portation far  beyond  Washington,  and  that  he, 
in  company  with  a  few  other  prisoners  in  like 
condition,  had  been  placed  in  an  improvised  hos- 
pital a  few  miles  north  of  the  capital  city,  where 
he  still  lay  under  treatment,  with  only  a  slender 
chance  of  recovery.  Her  first  impulse  was  to 
go  to  Washington  at  once,  and  endeavour  in  some 
way  to  secure  permission  to  enter  the  hospital  as 
a  nurse.  Her  friends  in  Washington  and  in  Mary- 
land discouraged  this  attempt,  assuring  her  not 
only  of  its  futility,  but  of  its  danger.  They  were 
convinced,  indeed,  that  she  could  not  even  enter 
Washington,  which  was  then  a  vast  fortified 
camp,  without  the  discovery  of  her  identity  by  the 
agents  of  a  secret  service  which  had  become  well- 
nigh  omniscient,  so  far  as  personal  identities,  per- 
sonal histories,  and  personal  intentions  were  con- 
cerned. 

305 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  Stay  where  you  are,"  one  of  them  urgently 
wrote  her,  "  and  keep  yourself  free  to  act  if 
at  any  time  a  chance  shall  come  to  accomplish 
any  good.  It  would  spoil  all  and  destroy  the 
last  vestige  of  hope,  for  you  to  attempt  what  you 
suggest.  You  can  do  no  good  here.  You  may  do 
inestimable  good  if  you  remain  where  you  are." 

When  this  decision  was  communicated  to  Sam, 
his  round  black  face  became  long,  and  the  look 
of  laughter  completely  went  out  of  his  counte- 
nance. But  Sam  was  not  an  easily  discouraged 
person,  and  he  had  come  to  believe  in  his  own 
sagacity.  So  after  a  day  or  two  of  disconsolate 
moping,  he  set  his  wits  at  work  upon  this  new 
problem.  Presently  an  idea  was  born  to  him, 
and  he  went  at  once  to  lay  it  before  Agatha  for 
consideration. 

"  Mis'  Agatha,"  he  said,  "  even  ef  you  cawn't 
git  to  Mas'  Baillie,  Sam  kin,  an'  that'll  be  bet- 
ter'n  nothin',  won't  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Sam,"  answered  the  sad-eyed  young 
woman,  "  very  much  better  than  nothing.  You 
could  take  care  of  your  master,  and  be  a  comfort 
to  him,  and  if  the  time  ever  should  come  when 

306 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

anything  could  be  done  for  him,  you'd  be  on  the 
ground  to  help.  But  how  can  you  get  to  him?  " 

"  I  could  manage  dat,  ef  I  was  a  free  nigga," 
answered  the  boy,  meditatively. 

"  But  you  are  free,  I  suppose,"  said  Agatha. 
"  You've  been  brought  to  a  free  State,  practically 
with  your  master's  consent,  and  that  makes  you 
free,  I  believe.  But  —  " 

"  O,  I  don't  want  to  be  a  sho'  'miff  free 
nigga,"  interrupted  Sam.  "  I  ain't  never  a-gwine 
to  be  dat.  I'se  a-gwine  to  'long  to  Mas'  Baillie 
cl'ar  to  de  end  o'  de  cawn  rows.  But  I  done 
heah  folks  up  heah  say  dat  de  Yankees  is  a-sendin' 
back  all  de  niggas  what  runs  away  from  der 
mahstahs,  an'  ef  I  ain't  got  nuffin'  to  say  I'se 
free,  dey'd  sen'  me  back  to  Ferginny  ef  I  went 
down  dat  way  whar  Mas'  Baillie  is." 

Sam's  information  on  this  point  was  in  a 
measure  correct.  For  in  the  singleness  of  his 
purpose  to  save  the  Union  at  all  costs,  and  in 
his  anxiety  not  to  alienate  the  border  slave  States 
by  interfering  with  slavery  where  it  legally  ex- 
isted, Mr.  Lincoln  steadfastly  insisted,  during  the 
first  year  of  the  war,  that  military  commanders 
should  restore  all  fugitive  slaves  who  should  come 

307 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

to  them  for  protection,  or  where  that  could  not  be 
done,  should  list  them  and  employ  them  in  work 
upon  fortifications  and  the  like. 

Agatha  thought  for  a  time,  and  then  said : 

"  I  think  I  can  manage  that,  Sam.  I'll  try, 
at  any  rate.  But  I  must  wait  till  to-morrow. 
Tell  me  how  you  expect  to  get  to  your  master." 

"  I  don't  rightly  know  yit,  Mis'  Agatha.  But 
I'll  git  dar.  Maybe  you'll  send  a  letter  to  yo' 
frien's  down  dat  way,  tellin'  'em  Sam's  all  right, 
so's  dey'll  trus'  me.  Ef  you  do  dat,  Mis'  Agatha, 
I'll  do  de  res'." 

It  was  impossible,  of  course,  to  execute  legal 
papers  setting  Sam  free,  nor  were  any  papers  at 
all  necessary  for  his  use,  so  long  as  he  remained 
in  New  York.  But  in  Washington  he  might  have 
to  give  an  account  of  himself,  and  by  way  of 
making  sure  that  he  should  not  be  seized  as  a 
runaway  slave,  and  set  to  work  upon  the  forti- 
fications, Agatha's  friend,  the  banker,  gave  him 
a  document  in  which  he  certified  that  the  negro 
boy  was  not  a  runaway  slave,  but  was  known  to 
him  as  a  legally  free  negro,  who  had  been  living 
in  New  York,  but  wished  to  go  to  Washington 
and  elsewhere  in  search  of  employment. 
308 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Armed  with  this  paper,  and  with  full  instruc- 
tions from  Agatha  as  to  how  to  find  certain  of 
her  friends,  Sam  set  out  on  his  journey  full  of 
determination  to  succeed  in  his  affectionate  pur- 
pose. 

In  Washington,  he  engaged  in  various  small 
employments  that  yielded  a  revenue  in  the  form 
of  tips.  He  purchased  a  banjo,  and  ingratiated 
himself  everywhere  by  singing  his  plantation 
songs,  including  both  those  that  he  had  learned 
from  others,  and  a  few,  such  as  "  Oh,  Eliza," 
which  he  had  fabricated  for  himself.  In  the 
course  of  a  week  or  two  he  learned  all  he  needed 
to  know  about  roads,  military  lines,  and  the  like, 
and  was  prepared  to  make  his  way  to  the  hos- 
pital where  his  master  lay. 

There  he  besought  employment  of  menial  kinds, 
at  the  hands  of  the  surgeons  and  other  officers,  of 
whom  there  were  only  a  very  few  at  the  post. 
Again  he  strummed  his  banjo  and  sang  his  songs 
to  good  purpose,  impressing  everybody  with  the 
conviction  that  he  was  a  jolly,  thoughtless,  happy- 
go-lucky  negro,  and  very  amusing  withal.  The 
hospital  was  a  very  small  one  in  a  very  lonely 
part  of  the  country,  and  service  there  was  ex- 

309 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

tremely  tedious  to  those  who  were  condemned  to 
it.  Sam's  minstrelsy,  therefore,  was  more  than 
welcome  as  something  that  pleasantly  broke  the 
monotony,  and  the  officers  concerned  were  anx- 
ious to  keep  the  amusing  fellow  employed  at  the 
post,  lest  he  go  elsewhere.  They  gave  him  all 
sorts  of  odd  jobs  to  do,  from  blacking  boots 
and  polishing  spurs  and  buckles,  to  grooming 
a  horse  when  privileged  in  that  way,  to  show  his 
skill  in  "  puttin'  of  a  satin  dress  onto  a  good 
animal,"  as  he  called  the  process. 

Agatha  had  provided  the  boy  with  a  small  sum 
of  money  for  use  in  emergencies,  and,  as  his 
living  had  cost  him  nothing,  he  had  considerably 
added  to  its  amount.  He  cherished  it  jealously, 
feeling  that  it  might  prove  to  be  his  readiest  tool 
in  accomplishing  his  purposes. 

For  a  time  he  was  not  permitted  to  enter  the 
hospital,  which  was  nothing  more  than  an  old 
barn  in  which  a  floor  had  been  laid  and  windows 
cut.  Four  sentries  guarded  it,  one  on  each  of  its 
sides.  The  patients  within  numbered  about  fif- 
teen, all  of  them  wounded  Confederate  officers, 
for  whom  this  provision  had  been  made  until  such 

310 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

time  as  they  should  be  sufficiently  recovered  to 
be  taken  North  to  a  military  prison. 

Being  in  no  regular  way  employed  at  the  post, 
Sam  was  free  to  go  and  come  as  he  pleased,  and 
he  did  a  good  deal  of  night-prowling  at  this  time. 
He  managed  in  that  way  to  establish  relations 
with  certain  of  Agatha's  friends,  whose  residence 
was  ten  or  a  dozen  miles  away.  He  visited  them 
at  intervals  in  order  to  hear  from  Agatha,  and 
report  to  her  through  them.  He  had  not  dared 
inquire  concerning  his  master  in  any  direct  way, 
or  to  reveal  his  interest  in  any  of  the  hospital 
patients.  But  when  two  of  them  had  died,  he 
had  asked  one  of  the  servitors  about  the  place 
what  their  names  were,  and  had  thus  satisfied  him- 
self that  neither  of  them  was  Captain  Pegram. 
By  keeping  his  ears  on  the  alert,  he  had  learned 
also  that  there  were  not  likely  to  be  any  further 
deaths,  and  that  the  remaining  wounded  men  were 
slowly,  but  quite  surely,  recovering.  Still  fur- 
ther, he  had  heard  one  of  the  doctors,  in  conver- 
sation with  the  other,  comment  upon  the  remark- 
able vitality  of  Captain  Pegram. 

"  That  wound  would  have  killed  almost  any 
other  man  I  ever  saw,  but  upon  my  word  the  man 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

is  getting  well.  Barring  accidents,  I  regard  him 
now  as  pretty  nearly  out  of  danger." 

All  this  Sam  duly  reported  to  Agatha  through 
her  friends.  It  greatly  comforted  her,  but  it 
seriously  alarmed  Sam.  For  Sam  had  learned 
the  ways  of  the  place,  and  he  knew  that  there  was 
haste  made  to  send  every  patient  North,  as  soon 
as  he  was  in  condition  to  be  removed  without 
serious  danger  to  his  life;  and  Sam  had  begun 
to  cherish  hopes  and  lay  plans  which  would  cer- 
tainly come  to  nothing  if  his  master  should  be 
removed  from  the  hospital  to  a  military  prison. 

He  determined,  therefore,  to  find  some  way 
of  getting  into  the  hospital,  communicating  with 
his  master,  and  finding  out  for  himself  precisely 
what  the  prospects  were. 

It  was  winter  now,  and  besides  the  snow  there 
was  much  mud  around  the  hospital,  which  was 
freely  tracked  into  it  by  all  who  entered.  Peter, 
the  rheumatic  old  negro  man  who  was  employed 
to  scrub  the  place,  complained  bitterly  of  this. 
He  said  to  Sam  one  day : 

"  Dese  heah  doctahs  an*  dese  heah  'tendants 
is  mighty  pahticklah  to  have  de  place  keeped 
scrumptiously  clean,  but  dey's  mighty  onpahtick- 
312 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

lah  to  wipe  dar  boots  'fo'  enterin'  de  hospital. 
Ole  Pete's  done  got  mos'  enough  o'  dis  heah  job." 

"Why  don't  yo'  quit  it,  den?"  asked  Sam, 
with  seeming  indifference. 

"  'Case  I  can't  'ford  to.  I  ain't  got  no  udder 
'ployment  fer  de  rest  o'  de  wintah,  an'  it's  a 
long  ways  to  blackberry  time." 

"  How  much  does  dey  gib  yo'  fer  a-doin'  of 
it?" 

"'Mos'  nothin'  'tall  — a  dollah  an'  a  half  a 
month  an'  my  bo'd." 

:l  Yes,  an'  de  job  won't  las'  long,  nuther,"  said 
Sam,  sympathetically,  "  'cordin'  to  what  I  heah. 
De  rebel  officers  is  all  a-gwine  to  git  well,  I 
done  heah  de  doctahs  say,  an*  when  dey  does  dat, 
dey'll  be  shipped  off  Norf,  an'  dis  heah  'stablish- 
ment'll  be  broke  up.  You'se  too  ole  fer  sich 
wuk,  anyways,  Uncle  Pete.  Yo'  oughter  be 
a-nussin'  o'  yer  knees  by  a  fire  somewhars,  'stead 
o'  warm'  of  'em  out  a-scrubbin'  flo's.  You'se 
got  a  lot  o'  prayin'  to  do  yit,  'fo'  yo'  dies,  — 
'nuff  to  use  up  what  knees  you'se  got  left.  Give 
up  de  job,  Uncle  Pete,  and  go  off  wha'  you  kin 
make  yer  peace  wid  de  Lawd,  as  de  preachahs 
says  you  must." 

313 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

"  But  I  cawn't,  I  tell  you !  I  ain't  got  no 
money,  an'  I  ain't  got  no  'ployment,  'ceptin'  dis 
heah  scrubbin'.  Ef  I  had  five  dollahs,  Ole  Pete 
wouldn't  be  heah  fer  a  day  later'n  day  afteh  to- 
morrow —  dat's  pay-day." 

Sam  sat  silent  for  a  time  as  if  meditating  on 
what  he  had  it  in  mind  to  say,  before  committing 
himself  to  the  rash  proposal.  Finally,  he  turned 
to  the  old  man,  and  said : 

"  Look  heah,  Uncle  Pete,  I'se  sorry  fer  you, 
sho'  'miff  I  is.  I'se  done  'cumulated  a  little 
money,  by  close  scrimpin',  an'  I'm  half  a  mind 
to  help  yo'  out.  Lemme  see.  You'se  a-gwine  to 
git  a  dollah  an'  a  half  day  after  to-morrow.  I 
kin  spar  yo'  six  dollahs  mo'.  Dat'll  make  seben 
dollahs  an'  a  half.  I'll  do  it  ef  you'll  take  pity 
on  yerse'f  an'  go  to  town  an'  git  yerse'f  a  easier 
sort  o'  wuk.  Yo'  kin  owe  me  de  six  dollahs 
tell  you  git  rich  enough  to  pay  it  back." 

The  old  man  was  inclined  to  be  suspicious  of 
a  generosity  of  which  he  had  never  known  the 
equal. 

"  Who'se  a-gwine  to  take  de  job  ef  I  gibs 
it  up  ?  "  he  asked. 

"What  de  debbil  do  you  k'yar  'bout  dat?" 

3H 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

asked  Sam.  "  Anyhow,  dey  ain't  a-gwine  to 
raise  de  wages.  Yo'  kin  jes'  bet  yo'  life  on  dat. 
Yo'  kin  do  jes'  as  yo'  please  'bout  'ceptin'  de 
offer  I  done  made  you.  I  oughtn't  to  'a'  made  it, 
but  I'se  always  a-makin'  of  a  fool  o'  myse'f, 
when  my  feelin's  is  touched.  Six  dollahs  is  a 
lot  o'  money,  hit  is.  Maybe  yo'  think  I'm  Mr. 
Astor,  to  go  a-throwin'  of  money  away  like  dat, 
or,  maybe  yo'se  Mr.  Astor  yerse'f,  to  be  hesi- 
tatin'  'bout  a-'ceptin'  of  it.  Reckon  I  bettah  with- 
draw de  offah  —  " 

"Who'se  a-hesitatin' ?  "  broke  in  old  Peter,  hur- 
riedly. "  I  ain't  never  thought  o'  hesitatm',  Sam. 
I'll  take  de  money  sho',  an'  I  thank  you  kindly 
for  yer  generosity,  Sam.  You'se  a  mighty  fine 
boy,  Sam,  an'  I'se  always  liked  you  ever  since  I 
fust  knowed  you.  Now  dat  you'se  a-behavin' 
jes'  like  as  if  yo'  was  my  own  chile,  I  reck'lec' 
dat  I  always  had  a  fatherly  feelin'  foh  you,  Sam. 
Lemme  have  de  money  now,  -Sam,  so's  I  kin  go 
to  sleep  to-night  a-feelin'  I  ain't  got  but  one  mo' 
day  to  do  dis  heah  sort  o'  wuk." 

"  Yo'  won't  change  yo'  mind  ?  "  asked  Sam. 

"  Sartain  sho' !    Wish  I  may  die  ef  I  do." 

Sam  regarded  that  oath  as  one  likely  to  be 

315 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

binding  upon  any  negro  conscience,  but  he  wished 
to  take  no  risks;  so  putting  on  an  air  of  great 
solemnity,  and  pushing  his  face  to  within  four 
inches  of  the  old  man's,  he  said : 

"  Now  you'se  done  swore  it  by  de  '  wish  I  may 
die,'  an'  you  mus'  keep  dat  sw'ar.  Ef  yo'  don't, 
it'll  be  my  solemn  duty  to  carry  out  yo'  wish 
by  killin'  you  myse'f,  an',  'fore  de  Lawd,  I'll  do 
it.  Heah's  de  money." 


316 


XXIV 

FLIGHT 

SAM  had  so  far  commended  himself  by  alert- 
ness and  thoroughness  in  whatever  he  did, 
that  he  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  what  he 
called  "  de  scrubbin'  contract."  He  now  had  per- 
fect freedom  of  hospital  ingress  and  egress,  but 
he  felt  that  he  must  be  cautious,  especially  in  his 
first  revelation  of  his  presence  to  his  master,  who, 
he  was  confident,  knew  nothing  of  his  being  there. 
He  feared  to  surprise  some  exclamation  from 
Pegram,  which  would,  as  he  phrased  it,  "  give 
de  whole  snap  away." 

So  on  the  first  morning  he  began  his  scrubbing 
at  the  outer  door,  and  moved  slowly  on  his  hands 
and  knees  along  the  line  of  cots,  taking  sly 
glimpses  of  their  occupants  as  he  went.  It  was 
not  till  he  reached  the  farther  corner  of  the  large 
room  that  he  found  the  cot  of  his  master.  Then 

317 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

with  his  face  near  the  floor  and  scrubbing  vio- 
lently with  his  brush,  he  began  intoning  in  a  low 
voice : 

"  Don't  say  nothin',  don't  say  nothin',  don't 
say  nothin'  when  yo'  sees  me.  It's  Sam  sho' 
'nuff,  an'  Sam's  done  come,  an'  don't  you  give 
it  away." 

To  any  one  ten  feet  away,  all  this  sounded  like 
the  humming  of  a  chant  by  one  who  unconsciously 
sang  below  the  breath  as  he  worked.  But  to 
Baillie,  who  lay  within  a  foot  or  two  of  the  boy's 
head,  the  words  were  perfectly  audible,  and  pres- 
ently, without  moving,  and  in  a  low  murmuring 
voice,  he  said: 

"  I  understand,  Sam.  I  knew  you  were  here. 
I  heard  you  singing  outside,  many  days  ago." 

Then  the  wounded  man  pretended  to1  have 
difficulty  in  adjusting  his  blankets,  and  Sam  rose 
and  bent  over  the  cot  to  help  him.  While  doing 
so,  he  said: 

"  Mis'  Agatha,  she  done  brung  me  to  New 
York,  an'  sent  me  heah  to  fin'  yo'.  How's  you 
a-gittin'?  Tell  me,  so's  I  kin  report,  an'  tell  me 
every  day." 

Baillie  replied  briefly  that  his  wound  was  heal- 

318 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

ing  and  his  strength  coming  back,  to  which  Sam 
answered : 

"  Don't  you  go  fer  to  tell  de  doctah  too  much 
'bout  dat.  Jes'  keep  as  sick  as  you  kin,  while 
you'se  a-gittin'  well.  I'll  tell  you  why  another 
time.  Git  'quainted  wid  Sam  more  an'  more 
ebery  day,  Mas'  Baillie,  so's  we  kin  talk  'thout 
'rousin'  'spicion." 

In  aid  of  this,  Sam  took  pains,  as  the  days 
went  on,  to  establish  relations  with  all  the  other 
patients  who  were  well  enough  to  talk,  and  as 
his  inconsequent  humour  seemed  to  amuse  them, 
the  doctors  made  no  objection  to  his  loquacious- 
ness. 

It  was  one  of  the  articles  in  Sam's  philosophical 
creed  that  "  yo'  cawn't  have  too  many  frien's, 
'case  yo'  cawn't  never  know  when  you  may  need 
'em."  Accordingly,  he  cultivated  acquaintance 
with  everybody,  high  and  low,  about  the  place, 
including  the  peculiarly  surly  man  who  brought 
the  coal  and  the  kindling-wood  for  the  estab- 
lishment. That  personage  was  a  white  man  of 
melancholy  temper  and  extraordinary  taciturnity. 
He  went  in  and  out  of  the  place,  wearing  a  long 
overcoat  that  had  probably  seen  better  days,  but 

319 


The      Master    of    Warlock 

so  long  ago  as  to  have  forgotten  all  about  them. 
The  only  other  article  of  his  clothing  that  was 
visible  was  a  slouch  hat,  the  brim  of  which 
had  completely  lost  courage  and  could  no  longer 
pretend  to  stand  out  from  the  head  that  wore  it, 
but  hung  down  like  a  limp  lambrequin  over  the 
man's  eyes.  The  man  himself  seemed  in  an 
equally  discouraged  condition.  He  shambled 
rather  than  walked,  and  never  answered  a  ques- 
tion or  responded  to  a  salutation,  except  in  Sam's 
case.  To  him,  when  the  two  were  alone,  the  man 
would  sometimes  speak  a  few  words. 

Sam  was  daily  and  hourly  studying  everybody 
and  everything  about  him,  with  a  view  to  possi- 
bilities. Nobody  was  too  insignificant  and  noth- 
ing too  trivial  for  him  to  note  and  consider  and 
remember.  "  Yo'  cawn't  never  know,"  he  phil- 
osophised, "  what  rock  will  come  handiest  when 
yo'  wants  to  frow  it  at  a  squirrel." 

As  the  weeks  passed,  Baillie  Pegram  so  im- 
proved that  he  sat  up,  and  even  walked  about 
the  place  a  little.  One  day,  Sam  learned  that 
Baillie  and  three  others  were  deemed  well  enough 
to  be  removed  from  hospital  to  prison,  and  that 
the  transfer  was  to  be  made  two  days  later.  Dur- 
320 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

ing  the  night  after  this  discovery  was  made,  Sam 
trudged  through  a  blinding  snow-storm  —  the 
last,  probably,  of  the  waning  winter  —  to  the 
house  of  Agatha's  friends,  ten  or  a  dozen  miles 
away,  and  back  again  through  the  snow-drifts, 
arriving  at  the  hospital  about  daylight,  as  he  had 
often  done  before,  after  a  prowling  by  night. 

He  had  made  all  his  arrangements  but  one, 
and  he  had  armed  himself  for  that,  by  drawing 
upon  Agatha's  friends  for  ten  dollars  in  small 
bills. 

During  the  day,  he  managed  to  tell  his  master 
all  that  was  necessary  concerning  the  emergency, 
and  his  plans  for  meeting  it. 

"  To-morrow  'bout  sundown,  Mas'  Baillie,"  he 
said,  at  the  last.  "  'Member  de  hour.  When 
Sam  speaks  to  yo'  at  de  front  do',  yo'  is  to  go 
ter  yo'  cot.  Yo'll  fin'  de  coat  an'  de  hat  a-waitin' 
fo'  yo'.  Put  'em  on  quick,  an'  pull  de  hat  down 
clos't,  an'  turn  de  collah  up  high.  Den  walk 
out'n  de  back  do'  fru  de  wood-shed,  an'  pass  out 
de  gate,  jes'  as  ef  yo'  was  de  ole  man,  sayin' 
nuffin'  to  nobody.  Yo'  mustn't  walk  straight  like 
yo'  always  does,  but  shufflin'-like,  jes'  as  de  ole 
man  does.  Den  mount  de  coal  kyart  an'  drive 

321 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

up  to  de  forks  o'  de  road.  Den  shuffle  out'n  de 
coat  an'  hat,  an'  git  inter  de  sleigh.  Yo'  frien's 
'ull  take  kyar  o'  de  res'." 

Having  thus  instructed  his  master,  Sam  post- 
poned further  proceedings  until  the  morrow.  He 
had  not  yet  opened  negotiations  with  the  old 
coal-man,  —  negotiations  upon  which  the  success 
of  his  plans  depended,  —  but  he  trusted  his  wits 
and  his  determination  to  accomplish  what  he 
desired,  and  he  had  no  notion  of  risking  all  by 
unnecessary  haste. 

Even  when  the  coal-man  came  during  the  next 
morning,  Sam  contented  himself  with  asking  if 
he  would  certainly  come  again  with  his  cart 
about  sunset  of  that  day,  as  he  usually  did.  Hav- 
ing reassured  himself  on  that  point,  Sam  said 
nothing  more,  except  that  he  would  himself  be 
at  leisure  at  that  time  and  would  help  bring  in  the 
load  of  wood. 

Then  Sam  finished  his  scrubbing,  and  spent 
the  afternoon  in  repairing  the  apparatus  of  his 
handicraft.  He  readjusted  the  hoops  on  his 
scrubbing-bucket,  scoured  his  brushes,  and  ground 
the  knife  that  he  was  accustomed  to  use  in  scrap- 
ing the  floor  wherever  medicines  had  been  spilled 
32? 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

or  other  stains  had  been  made,  for  Sam  had  a 
well  earned  reputation  for  thoroughness  in  his 
work.  Curiously  enough,  he  this  time  ground  the 
knife-blade  to  a  slender  point,  "  handy,"  he  said, 
"  fer  gittin'  into  cracks  wid." 

When  the  coal-man  came  with  a  load  of  wood, 
a  little  before  sunset,  dumping  it  outside  the  gate, 
Sam  was  ready  to  help  him  carry  it  in  and  split 
it  into  kindlings  within  the  shed.  For  this  work, 
when  the  wood  had  all  been  brought  in,  the  old 
man  laid  off  his  overcoat  and  hat.  Thereupon 
Sam  opened  negotiations. 

"  I'se  a-gwine  to  a  frolic  to-night/'  he  said, 
"  an'  I'se  a-gwine  to  have  a  mighty  good  time 
a-playin'  o'  de  banjo  an'  a-dancin',  but  hit's  power- 
ful cold,  an'  de  walk's  a  mighty  long  one." 

Then,  as  if  a  sudden  thought  had  come  to  him, 
he  said: 

"Tell  yo'  what!  'Spose  yo'  lemme  wahr  yo' 
overcoat.  Yo'  ain't  got  far  to  go,  an'  I'll  give 
yo'  a  dollah  fer  de  use  of  it." 

The  old  man  hesitated,  and  Sam  was  in  a  hurry. 

"  I'll  make  it  two  dollahs,  an'  heah's  de  money 
clean  an'  new,"  pulling  out  the  bills.  "  Say  de 
word  an'  it's  your'n." 

323 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

The  offer  was  too  tempting  to  be  resisted,  and 
the  bargain  was  quickly  made. 

"  Reckon  I  better  go  brush  it  up,"  said  Sam, 
taking  the  garment  and  managing  to  fold  the 
soft  hat  into  it.  He  passed  through  the  door  into 
the  hospital,  cast  his  bundle  upon  Baillie  Pegram's 
bed,  and  walked  quickly  to  the  front  door,  where 
his  master  was  standing  looking  out  upon  the 
snow,  now  darkening  in  the  falling  dusk. 

"  All  ready,"  the  negro  said,  in  an  undertone, 
as  he  passed,  and  Captain  Pegram  wearily  turned 
and  walked  toward  his  cot.  Half  a  minute  later, 
what  looked  like  the  old  coal-man  passed  into  the 
wood-shed,  and  out  of  it  at  the  rear,  whence, 
with  shuffling  steps  he  walked  to  and  through 
the  gate,  mounted  the  coal-cart,  and  slowly  drove 
away. 

Sam,  hurrying  around  the  building,  entered  the 
wood-shed  just  as  his  master  was  leaving  it,  and 
confronted  the  owner  of  the  coat  and  hat  that 
Pegram  wore.  He  was  none  too  soon,  for  the 
old  man,  seeing  Pegram  pass,  clad  in  his  gar- 
ments, thought  he  was  being  robbed,  and  was 
about  to  raise  a  hue  and  cry.  Sam  interposed 
with  an  assumption  of  authority : 

324 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  Stay  right  whah  yo'  is,"  he  commanded,  "  an' 
don't  make  no  noise,  do  yo'  heah  ?  Ef  you  keeps 
quiet-like,  an'  stays  heah  at  wuk  fer  ha'f  a  hour, 
an'  den  goes  away  'bout  yo'  business  a-sayin' 
nothin'  to  nobody,  you'll  git  another  dollah,  an' 
I'll  tell  yo'  whah  to  fin'  yo'  clo'se.  Ef  yo'  don't 
do  jes'  as  I  tells  yo',  yo'll  git  dis,  an'  yo'  won't 
never  have  no  'casion  fer  no  clo'se  no  more. 
Do  yo'  heah?" 

Sam  held  the  keenly  pointed  knife  in  his  hand, 
while  the  old  man  worked  for  the  appointed  space 
of  half  an  hour.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  Sam 
said: 

"  Now  yo'  may  go,  an'  heah's  yo'  dollah.  Yo'll 
fin'  yer  kyart  at  de  forks  o'  de  road,  an'  yer  coat 
an'  hat'll  be  in  de  kyart.  But  min'  you  don't 
never  know  nothin'  'bout  dis  heah  transaction, 
fer  ef  yo'  ever  peeps,  dey'll  hang  yo'  fer  helpin' 
a  pris'ner  to  escape,  an'  I'll  kill  yo'  besides.  Go, 
now.  Do  yo'  heah  ?  " 

Sam  watched  him  pass  out  through  the  gate 
« 
and  turn  up  the  road.    When  he  had  disappeared, 

the  black  strategist  muttered: 

"  Reckon  dat  suggestion  'bout  gittin'  hisse'f 
'rested  fer  helpin'  a  pris'ner  'scape,  will  sort  o' 

325 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

bar  itse'f  in  on  de  ole  man's  min'.  He  won't  never 
let  hisse'f  'member  nuffin'  'bout  dis  heah.  Any- 
how, Mas'  Baillie's  gone,  an'  it's  time  Sam  was 
a-gittin'  out  o'  this,  too." 

With  that  the  boy  secured  his  banjo  and  bade 
good  night  to  the  surgeon  whom  he  met  outside, 
saying  that  he  was  going  to  have  a  "  powerful 
good  time  at  de  frolic." 


326 


XXV 

A    NARROW  ESCAPE 

BAILLIE  PEGRAM  found  little  difficulty  in 
imitating  the  shambling  gait  of  the  old  coal 
man  as  he  walked  to  the  hospital  exit. 
In  his  weakness  he  could  hardly  have  walked 
in  any  other  fashion.    He  managed  with  difficulty 
to  climb  upon  the  cart,  and  to  endure  the  painful 
drive  to  the  forks  of  the  road,  somewhat  more 
than  half  a  mile  away. 

There  he  found  a  sleigh  awaiting  him,  with 
four  women  in  it,  all  muffled  to  the  eyes  in  buffalo- 
robes,  and  a  gentleman  wrapped  in  a  fur  over- 
coat, on  the  box.  The  gentleman  gave  the  reins 
to  one  of  the  ladies,  and  proceeded  to  help  Pegram 
from  the  coal-cart,  while  the  others  stepped  out 
upon  the  hard  frozen  snow. 

The  body  of  the  sleigh  was  deep,  and  it  had 
been  filled  with  fresh  rye  straw.  One  of  the  gen- 
tlewomen parted  this  to  either  side,  and  spread 

327 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

a  fur  robe  upon  the  floor  beneath,  into  which  the 
gentleman  hurriedly  helped  Baillie,  drawing  the 
robe  closely  together  over  him,  and  replacing  the 
straw  so  that  no  part  of  the  fur  wrapping  beneath 
could  be  seen. 

All  this  was  done  quickly,  and  without  a  word, 
the  women  resumed  their  seats,  the  man  cracked 
his  whip,  and  the  spirited  horses  set  off  at  a 
merry  pace. 

By  way  of  precaution,  a  roundabout  road  was 
followed,  and  it  was  late  when  the  sleighing- 
party  reached  its  destination.  There  the  women 
alighted  and  passed  into  the  house.  The  gentle- 
man drove  the  sleigh  into  the  barn,  with  Baillie 
Pegram  still  lying  under  the  straw.  When  the 
horses  were  unhitched,  their  owner  directed  the 
negro,  who  took  charge  of  them,  to  walk  them 
back  and  forth  down  by  the  stables  to  cool  them 
off,  before  putting  them  into  their  stalls.  It 
was  not  until  the  hostler  was  well  away  from  the 
barn  that  his  master  removed  the  seats  and  lifted 
Baillie  from  his  hiding-place  under  the  straw. 
By  that  time,  a  young  man,  perhaps  thirty  years 
old,  and  strong  of  frame,  had  appeared,  and  the 
two  hurriedly  carried  the  now  nearly  helpless 
328 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

man  into  the  house,  where  a  bed  awaited  him. 
Stripping  him,  the  younger  man  proceeded  to 
examine  the  wound  with  the  skilful  eye  of  a 
surgeon. 

"  The  wound  has  suffered  no  injury,"  he  pres- 
ently said  to  his  host,  "  but  the  man  is  greatly 
exhausted.  Will  you  heat  some  flat-irons,  and 
place  them  at  his  feet?  He  must  have  nourish- 
ment, too,  but  of  course  it  won't  do  to  bring  any 
of  the  servants  in  here  —  " 

"  I'll  manage  that,"  said  the  host.  "  We  are  all 
supposed  to  have  been  out  on  a  lark,  and  I  always 
have  a  late  supper  after  that  sort  of  thing.  I'll 
have  it  served  in  the  room  that  opens  out  of 
this.  As  soon  as  it  comes,  I'll  send  the  servants 
away,  and  we  can  feed  your  patient  from  our 
table." 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  ever  faithful  Sam,  half 
frozen  but  full  of  courage  and  determination, 
was  toiling  over  the  flint-like  snow,  trying  to  reach 
the  house  before  the  morning.  In  order  that  he 
might  the  better  keep  his  hands  from  freezing, 
he  cast  his  banjo  into  a  snow-filled  ravine,  saying : 

"  Reckon  I  sha'n't  need  you  any  more,  an'  ef 
I  does,  I  kin  git  another."  With  that,  he  thrust 

329 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

his  hands  into  his  pockets,  where  his  accumulated 
earnings  reassured  him  as  to  his  ability  to  buy 
banjos  at  will. 

It  had  been  a  part  of  the  plan  of  rescue  that 
Baillie  should  remain  but  a  brief  while  at  his 
present  stopping-place.  It  was  deemed  certain 
that  a  search  for  him  would  be  made  as  soon  as 
his  escape  should  be  discovered,  and  the  house 
in  which  he  had  been  put  to  bed  that  night  was 
likely  to  be  one  of  the  first  to  be  examined,  where- 
fore Sam  was  anxious  to  reach  that  destination 
as  soon  as  possible,  lest  he  miss  his  master. 

But  when  the  morning  came,  Baillie  was  in  a 
high  fever,  and  the  doctor  forbade  all  attempts 
to  remove  him,  for  a  time  at  least.  As  the  day 
advanced,  the  fever  subsided  somewhat,  and  Bail- 
lie  grew  anxious  to  continue  his  journey.  Finally, 
the  doctor  hit  upon  a  plan  of  procedure. 

"  You  simply  must  not  now  undertake  the 
long  journey  we  had  intended  you  to  make  to-day, 
Captain,"  he  said,  "  but  the  distance  to  my  house 
in  the  town  is  comparatively  small.  I  might 
manage  to  take  you  there  this  afternoon,  if  you 
think  you  can  sit  up  in  my  sleigh  for  a  five-mile 

330 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

ride,  and  then  get  out  at  my  door  and  walk  into 
the  house  without  tottering  on  your  legs." 

Baillie  eagerly  protested  his  ability  to  endure 
the  ride,  and  the  doctor  proceeded  to  arrange 
for  it.  Some  clothing  had  already  been  provided 
in  the  house  for  Baillie  to  don  in  place  of  his 
uniform,  and  the  doctor  now  said : 

"  I'm  going  to  drive  home  at  once.  I'll  be 
back  before  three  o'clock.  Get  the  captain  into 
his  citizen's  clothes  and  have  him  ready  by  that 
time,  but  let  him  lie  down  till  I  come,  to  spare 
his  strength.  I've  a  patient  in  town,  a  consump- 
tive, and  I've  been  taking  him  out  with  me  every 
fine  day,  for  the  sake  of  the  air.  He  is  not  very 
ill  at  present,  but  he  is  one  of  us,  and  will  be  just 
as  sick  as  I  tell  him  to  be  when  I  get  him  here. 
I'm  afraid  I  'shall  find  it  necessary  to  ask  you 
to  keep  him  for  a  day  or  two." 

The  hint  was  understood,  and  the  doctor  drove 
away  behind  a  pair  of  good  trotters.  Before  the 
appointed  time  he  returned,  bringing  his  patient 
with  him,  and  at  his  request  the  sick  man  was 
put  to  bed  in  the  room  where  Baillie  had  passed 
the  night. 

A  few  minutes  later  a  party  of  soldiers  rode 

331 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

up  and  reported  that  they  were  under  orders  to 
search  the  house  for  an  escaped  Confederate  offi- 
cer. The  doctor,  with  a  well  assumed  look  of 
professional  concern  on  his  face,  said  to  the  officer 
in  command  of  the  squad : 

"  That  is  a  trifle  unfortunate  just  now.  I  have 
a  patient  in  the  adjoining  room  —  a  young  man 
in  pulmonary  consumption.  Of  course  you'll  have 
to  search  the  house,  but  I  beg  you,  Lieutenant, 
to  spare  my  patient.  His  condition  is  such 
that  —  " 

"  I'll  be  very  careful,  I  assure  you.  I'll  go 
alone  to  search  that  room,  and  make  as  little  dis- 
turbance as  possible." 

Still  wearing  a  look  of  anxiety,  the  doctor  said : 

"  Couldn't  you  leave  that  room  unexamined. 
Lieutenant?  I  assure  you  on  my  honour  that 
there  is  nobody  there  except  my  patient." 

The  physician's  anxiety  suggested  a  new 
thought  to  the  officer's  mind. 

"  I  take  your  word  for  that,  Doctor.  I  believe 
you  when  you  tell  me  there's  nobody  but  your 
patient  in  that  room.  But  your  patient  may  hap- 
pen to  be  the  very  man  we  want,  even  without 
your  knowing  the  fact.  Our  man  is  very  ill, 

332 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

recovering  from  a  severe  wound,  —  and  he'd  be 
sure  to  need  a  doctor  after  walking,  as  he  must 
have  done,  a  dozen  miles  in  this  snow.  Pardon 
me,  Doctor;  I  do  not  mean  to  accuse  you  of  any 
complicity;  but  you  are  a  physician,  bound  to 
do  your  best  for  any  patient  who  sends  for  you, 
and  to  keep  his  confidence  —  professional  ethics 
requires  that.  I  shall  not  blame  you  if  I  find 
your  patient  to  be  my  man.  You  are  doing  only 
your  professional  duty.  But  I  must  see  the  man. 
I  can  tell  whether  he's  the  one  we  want.  Our 
man  has  been  shot  through  the  body,  and  the 
wound  is  not  yet  completely  healed.  My  orders 
are  to  look  for  that  wound  on  every  man  I  have 
reason  to  suspect,  and  I  must  do  my  duty." 

"  O,  certainly,"  replied  the  physician.  "  You'll 
find  no  wounds  on  my  patient,  and  I  earnestly  beg 
you  to  avoid  exciting  him  more  than  is  absolutely 
necessary.  You  see,  in  his  condition,  any  undue 
excitement  —  " 

"  O,  I'll  be  very  careful,  Doctor,  very  careful, 
indeed." 

"  Thank  you.  It  is  very  good  of  you.  You 
see,  as  I  was  saying,  in  his  condition,  any 
undue  excitement  —  " 

333 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

"  O,  yes,  I  know  all  about  that.  You  may 
trust  me  to  be  careful." 

"  Again  thank  you.  Come,  Bob,"  looking  at 
his  watch,  and  addressing  Baillie,  who  was  sitting 
by,  "  we  must  be  going.  I've  half  a  dozen  patients 
waiting  for  me." 

Baillie  rose,  nerving  himself  for  the  effort, 
bowed  to  the  lieutenant,  and  walked  out  of  the 
house.  A  minute  later,  muffled  to  the  ears  in 
furs,  the  two  men  were  speeding  over  the  snow, 
with  Sam  clinging  on  behind,  and  playing  the 
part  of  "  doctah's  man." 

"  Here,"  said  the  physician,  handing  Baillie  a 
flask,  "  take  a  stiff  swig  of  that.  You  must  keep 
up  your  strength."  Then  after  he  had  replaced 
the  flask  in  his  overcoat  pocket,  he  chuckled : 

"  That  was  very  neatly  done  —  to  have  you 
walk  away  in  that  fashion  from  under  the  very 
nose  of  the  man  who  was  looking  for  you." 

Sam  echoed  the  chuckle,  and  Baillie  said : 

"  I  hope  your  patient  will  suffer  no  harm  from 
all  this!" 

"  O,  not  a  bit.  He's  in  the  game,  and  he'll 
enjoy  it,  especially  after  they  are  gone,  and  he 
suddenly  recovers  from  his  extreme  illness." 

334 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

"  But  why  was  it  necessary  to  take  him  there 
at  all?" 

"  Why,  under  the  circumstances,  it  would  never 
have  done  for  me  to  be  seen  driving  away  from 
there  with  a  companion  when  I  had  been  seen 
driving  out  there  alone.  As  it  is,  your  presence 
in  the  sleigh  is  satisfactorily  accounted  for  to 
everybody  who  sees  us.  But  how  about  your 
discarded  uniform?  Won't  they  find  that?" 

"  No.  Sam  reduced  it  to  ashes  early  this  morn- 
ing, and  then  aired  the  room  to  get  rid  of  the 
smell  of  burning  wool." 

"  That  was  excellent.  Who  thought  of  doing 
it?" 

"  Sam." 


335 


XXVI 

MADEMOISELLE  ROLAND 

DURING  all  those  months  of  waiting, 
Agatha  Ronald  had  remained  in  New 
York,  under  the  advice  of  Marshall  Pol- 
lard's friend,  who  was  accustomed  to  put  his  coun- 
sel into  the  form  of  something  like  a  command 
whenever  that  seemed  to  him  necessary.  She  was 
urged  to  remain  in  the  city,  too,  by  all  her  friends 
who  were  near  Baillie  Pegram's  prison  hospital. 
"  Stay  where  you  are,"  was  the  burden  of  all 
their  letters.  "  You  can  do  no  good  here,  and  you 
may  do  much  harm  if  you  attempt  to  come,  while 
you  will  very  surely  be  needed  where  you  are, 
if  we  succeed,  as  we  hope,  in  effecting  Captain 
Pegram's  escape.  We  shall  do  all  that  is  possible 
to  accomplish  that,  but  when  we  do  he  will  still 
be  a  very  ill  man,  —  for  if  he  is  to  escape  at  all, 
it  must  be  before  he  sufficiently  recovers  to  be 

336 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

sent  to  a  prison.  You  will  be  needed  then  to  care 
for  him  somewhere,  for,  of  course,  he  must  not 
remain  in  this  quarter  of  the  country.  Be  patient 
and  trust  us  —  and  Sam.  For  that  boy  is  a 
wonder  of  devotion  and  ingenuity.  He  has  just 
left  us  to  return  to  the  hospital  before  morning. 
He  makes  the  journey  on  foot  by  night,  three 
times  a  week,  walking  twenty  odd  miles  each 
trip,  in  all  sorts  of  weather.  When  we  remon- 
strated with  him  to-night  —  for  a  fearful  storm 
is  raging' —  and  told  him  he  should  have  waited 
for  better  weather,  he  indignantly  replied :  '  Den 
Mis'  Agatha  would  have  had  to  wait  a  whole 
day  beyond  her  time  fer  news.  No  sirree.  Sam's 
a-gwine  to  come  on  de  'pinted  nights,  ef  it  rains 
pitchforks  an'  de  win'  blows  de  ha'r  offen  he 
haid.'  " 

So  Agatha  busied  herself  with  such  concerns 
as  were  hers.  She  laboured  hard  to  improve  the 
service  of  her  "  underground  railroad,"  and  sent 
medicines  and  surgical  appliances  through  the 
lines  with  a  frequency  that  surprised  the  author- 
ities at  Richmond.  She  corresponded  in  a  dis- 
guised way  with  her  friends  in  and  near  Wash- 
ington, offering  all  she  could  of  helpful  sugges- 

337 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

tion  to  them  and  through  them  to  Sam.  It  was 
by  her  command  that  Sam  told  his  master,  while 
in  the  hospital,  just  where  and  how  she  was  to  be 
found  if  he  should  escape,  and  how  perfectly 
equipped  she  was  to  come  to  his  assistance  in 
such  a  case. 

For  the  rest,  she  battled  bravely  with  her  sor- 
row and  her  anxieties,  lest  they  unfit  her  for 
prompt  and  judicious  action  when  the  time  for 
action  should  come.  In  brief,  she  behaved  like  the 
devoted  and  heroic  woman  she  was. 

After  long  months  of  weary  waiting,  her  pulse 
was  one  day  set  bounding  by  the  tidings  that  the 
master  of  Warlock  had  escaped  from  the  hospital, 
and  was  in  safe  hands.  This  news  was  communi- 
cated by  means  of  a  telegram,  which  said  only, 
"  Dress  goods  satisfactory.  Trimmings  excel- 
lent." 

Fuller  news  came  by  letter  a  day  later,  and  it 
was  far  less  joyous.  It  told  her  that  the  exposure, 
exertion,  and  excitement  of  the  escape  had  brought 
Baillie  into  a  condition  of  dangerous  illness ;  that 
he  lay  helpless  in  the  physician's  house;  that  no 
one  was  permitted  to  see  him  for  fear  of  dis- 

338 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

covery,  except  Sam,  who  had  been  installed  as 
nurse. 

Other  letters  followed  this  daily  for  a  week, 
each  more  discouraging  than  the  last.  Finally 
came  one  from  the  doctor  himself,  in  answer  to 
Agatha's,  demand,  in  which  he  wrote : 

"  I  labour  under  many  difficulties.  Captain 
Pegram's  presence  in  my  house  must  be  con- 
cealed as  long  as  that  can  be  accomplished.  I 
am  a  bachelor,  and  I  often  receive  patients  for 
treatment  here,  but  in  this  case  the  man's  illness 
is  the  consequence  of  a  bullet  wound,  and  should 
that  fact  become  known,  it  would  pretty  certainly 
cause  an  inquiry;  for  my  Southern  sentiments 
are  well  known,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  govern- 
mental secret  service,  I  am  very  distinctly  a  *  sus- 
pect.' The  consequence  of  all  this  is  that  I  dare 
not  introduce  a  competent  nurse  into  the  house. 

"  Sam  is  willing  and  absolutely  devoted,  but 
of  course  he  knows  nothing  of  nursing.  Yet 
nursing,  and  especially  the  tender  nursing  of  a 
woman,  is  this  patient's  chief  need.  If  he  were 
in  New  York  now,  where  political  rancour  is  held 
in  check  by  the  fact  that  sentiment  there  is  divided, 
and  where  people  are  too  busy  to  meddle  with 

339 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

other  people's  affairs,  we  could  manage  the  matter 
easily.  You  can  scarcely  imagine  how  different 
the  conditions  here  are.  I  might  easily  command 
the  services  of  any  one  of  half  a  dozen  or  a  dozen 
gentlewomen  of  Maryland  whom  I  could  trust 
absolutely.  But  the  very  fact  of  my  bringing  one 
of  them  here  to  nurse  a  stranger,  would  set  a 
pack  of  clever  detectives  on  the  scent,  and  within 
twenty-four  hours  they  would  know  the  exact 
truth. 

"  You  will  see,  my  dear  young  lady,  how  per- 
plexing a  situation  it  is.  I  hoped  at  first*  that 
Capt.  P.  might  presently  rally  sufficiently  to 
stand  the  trip  to  New  York.  I  could  have  man- 
aged that.  But  he  simply  cannot  be  moved  now, 
or  for  many  weeks  to  come.  It  would  be  murder 
to  make  the  attempt." 

When  Agatha  had  read  this  latter,  her  mind 
was  instantly  made  up. 

"  I  must  go  to  him  at  all  hazards  and  all  costs, 
and  nurse  him  myself.  But  first  I  must  think 
out  a  way,  so  that  there  may  be  no  failure." 

She  sat  for  an  hour  thinking  and  planning. 
Then  she  got  up  and  hurriedly  scribbled  two  let- 
ters. It  was  after  nightfall,  and  Agatha  had 

340 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

never  yet  gone  into  the  streets  by  night.  Her 
terror  of  that  particular  form  of  danger  was 
great.  But  these  letters  must  be  posted  at  once, 
and  by  her  own  hand.  There  were  no  lamp-post 
mailing-boxes  in  those  half-civilised  days,  and 
she  must  travel  many  blocks  to  reach  the  nearest 
post-office  station.  She  took  up  the  little  pistol 
which  she  had  so  long  carried  for  the  purpose 
of  defending  her  honour  by  self-destruction,  if 
need  should  arise,  examined  its  chambers,  placed 
it  beneath'  her  cloak,  and  hurried  into  the  street. 

Then,  as  now,  to  the  shame  of  what  we  call 
our  civilisation,  no  woman  could  traverse  the 
thoroughfares  of  a  great  city  after  dark  and  un- 
attended without  risk  of  insult  or  worse.  Then, 
as  now,  a  costly  police  force  utterly  ignored  its 
duty  of  so  vigilantly  protecting  the  helpless  that 
the  streets  should  be  as  safe  to  women  as  to  men, 
by  night  as  well  as  by  day. 

During  that  little  walk  of  a  dozen  city  blocks 
through  streets  that  the  public  adequately  paid 
to  have  securely  guarded,  Agatha  felt  far  more 
of  fear  than  she  had  experienced  while  facing  the 
canister  fire  of  Baillie  Pegram's  guns. 

She  escaped  molestation  more  by  good  fortune 

341 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

than  by  any  security  that  police  protection  af- 
forded or  now  affords  to  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  a  community  that  calls  itself  civilised,  and  pays 
princely  sums  every  year  for  a  police  protection 
that  it  does  not  get. 

One  of  her  letters  was  addressed  to  a  friend 
in  Baltimore.  It  gave  her  the  address  of  Marshall 
Pollard's  friend,  the  banker,  and  added : 

"  On  receipt  of  this  you  are  to  telegraph,  asking 
him  to  find  and  send  you  a  nurse  who  speaks 
French  —  a  Frenchwoman  preferred.  He  will 
send  me,  in  response  to  the  demand,  as  Mile. 
Roland,  —  an  anagram  of  my  own  name.  I 
shall  speak  nothing  but  French  in  your  house, 
and  afterward." 

To  Baillie's  doctor  she  wrote: 

"  I  think  I  see  a  way  out  of  your  difficulties. 
Can  you  not  make  a  new  diagnosis  of  Captain 
Pegram's  case  —  finding  him  ill  of  tuberculosis, 
or  typhoid,  or  some  other  wasting  malady  corre- 
sponding with  his  external  appearance,  thus  con- 
cealing the  fact  that  he  suffers  in  consequence  of 
a  wound  ?  He  speaks  French  like  a  Parisian  — 
I  suppose  he  can  even  dream  in  that  language, 
as  I  always  do  —  so  for  safety  and  by  way  of 

342 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

forwarding  my  plan,  you  may  regard  him  as  a 
French  gentleman  who  has  fallen  ill  during  his 
travels  in  America,  and  come  to  you  for  treat- 
ment. You  are  to  be  very  anxious  to  secure  a 
French  nurse  for  him,  and  to  that  end  you  may 
write  as  soon  as  you  receive  this,  to  the  gentle- 
woman whose  address  in  Baltimore  is  enclosed, 
asking  her  to  procure  such  a  nurse  if  she  can. 
I  will  be  that  nurse,  and  will  know  no  English 
during  my  stay.  This  plan  will  enable  me  to  go 
to  Captain-  Pegram's  bedside  without  exciting 
the  least  suspicion,  and,  when  he  is  sufficiently 
recovered  to  travel,  there  will  be  little  if  any 
trouble  in  arranging  for  his  nurse  to  take  the 
convalescent  to  New  York,  and  thence  to  Europe. 
Once  out  of  the  country  and  well  again,  he  can 
go  to  Nassau,  and  thence  to  a  Southern  port  on 
one  of  the  English  blockade-running  ships.  To 
secure  all  this  we  must  scrupulously  maintain  the 
fiction  that  he  is  a  Frenchman,  and  I  a  French 
nurse." 

Agatha's  first  care  on  the  next  morning  was 
to  visit  the  banker  and  instruct  him  as  to  the 
part  he  was  to  play  in  the  conspiracy,  when  the 
telegram  should  come  from  Baltimore.  That 

343 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

done,  she  plied  her  needle  nimbly,  fashioning 
caps,  aprons  and  the  like,  such  as  French  nurses 
only  wore  at  that  time,  before  there  were  any 
trained  nurses  other  than  Frenchwomen  among 
us.  She  was  already  wearing  black  gowns,  of 
course,  and  when  she  added  a  jet  rosary  and  a 
stiffly  starched  broad  white  collar  to  her  costume, 
she  had  no  need  to  inform  anybody  that  she  was  a 
hospital-bred  nurse  from  Paris. 

In  the  little  Maryland  town  where  Baillie  Pe- 
gram  lay  in  a  stupor,  her  advent  attracted  much 
curious  attention,  especially  because  of  the  jaunty 
little  nurse's  cap  she  wore,  and  of  her  inability 
to  speak  English.  But  this  curiosity  averted, 
rather  than  invited  suspicion,  as  Agatha  had  in- 
tended and  planned  that  it  should  do. 

The  physician's  knowledge  of  the  French  lan- 
guage was  scant,  and  his  pronunciation  was  exe- 
crably bad,  but  he  managed  to  greet  the  nurse  in 
that  tongue  on  her  arrival,  and  to  say,  very  gal- 
lantly : 

"  Now  my  patient  should  surely  get  well.  Un- 
der care  of  such  a  nurse  even  a  dead  man  might 
be  persuaded  back  to  life." 

344 


XXVII 

AGATHAS  WONDER -STORY 

AGATHA  had  been  for  more  than  a  week 
at  Baillie  Peg-ram's  bedside  before  he  man- 
ifested any  consciousness  of  her  presence. 
But  from  the  very  first  her  ministrations  had 
seemed  to  soothe  him. 

Even  when  his  fever  brought  active  delirium 
with  it,  a  word  from  his  soft-voiced  French  nurse 
quieted  him,  and  each  day  showed  less  of  fever 
and  more  of  strength. 

At  last  one  day  he  lay  quiet,  and  Agatha  sat 
stitching  at  something  near  the  foot  of  the  bed. 
Her  face  was  bent  over  her  work,  so  that  she  did 
not  see  when  he  opened  his  eyes  and  gazed  stead- 
ily at  her  for  a  time.  Not  until  she  looked  up,  as 
she  was  accustomed  watchfully  to  do  every  little 
while,  did  he  fully  recognise  her.  Then,  in  a 
feeble  voice,  he  spoke  her  name  —  nothing  more. 

She  gently  readjusted  his  pillows,  and  he  fell 

345 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

into  a  more  natural  sleep  than  he  had  known  since 
his  relapse  had  befallen  him. 

When  he  waked  again,  Sam  was  sitting  by, 
Agatha  having  left  the  room  for  a  brief  while. 

"  Who  has  been  here,  Sam  ?  "  the  sick  man 
asked. 

"  Nobody,  Mas'  Baillie,  on'y  de  French  lady 
what's  a-nussin'  of  yo',"  replied  Sam,  lying  with 
the  utmost  equanimity,  in  accordance  with  what 
he  believed  to  be  the  spirit  of  his  instructions. 

"  I  dreamed  it,  then.  Tell  me  where  I  am, 
Sam." 

"I  ain't  Sam  an'  yo'  ain't  Mas'  Baillie;  I'se 
jes'  garshong,  an'  yo'se  a  French  gentleman,  an' 
yo'  cawn't  talk  nuffin'  but  French,  an'  so  'tain't 
no  use  fer  yo'  to  try  to  talk  to  me.  Yo'  mus' 
jes'  go  to  sleep,  now,  an'  when  de  French  nuss 
comes  back,  yo'  kin  ax  her  in  French  like  what- 
somever  yo'  wants  to  know." 

Baillie's  bewildered  wits  struggled  for  a  mo- 
ment with  the  problem  of  his  own  identity, 
but  before  the  French  nurse  returned  he  had  fallen 
asleep  again.  It  was  not  until  the  next  day, 
therefore,  that  he  had  opportunity  to  ask  Agatha 

346 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

anything,  but  his  fever  had  abated  by  that  time, 
and  his  mind  was  rapidly  clearing. 

"  Tell  me  about  it  all,  please,"  he  said  to  her. 

"  Sh  —  speak  only  in  French,"  she  replied, 
herself  speaking  in  that  tongue.  "  It  is  very 
necessary,  and  address  me  as  Mademoiselle  Ro- 
land." 

Then  she  told  him  so  much  as  was  necessary 
to  prevent  him  from  exercising  his  imagination 
in  an  exciting  way.  When  she  had  explained  that 
he  was  still  in  the  house  of  the  doctor  who  had 
aided  him  in  his  escape,  and  that  the  pretence  of 
his  being  a  French  gentleman  and  she  a  French 
nurse  was  necessary  for  safety,  she  added : 

"  I  came  to  you  when  you  were  very  ill  and 
needed  me,  and  I  shall  stay  with  you  so  long  as 
you  need  me.  You  mustn't  talk  now.  Wait  a 
few  days,  and  you  will  be  strong  enough." 

The  prediction  was  fulfilled,  and  a  few  days 
later  Agatha  told  him  the  whole  story  of  her 
own  and  Sam's  search  for  him,  dwelling  partic- 
ularly upon  Sam's  devotion  and  the  ingenuity 
he  had  brought  to  bear  upon  the  problem  of  res- 
cue. For  at  times  when  there  was  no  possibility 
that  anybody  should  overhear,  Agatha  had  made 

347 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Sam  tell  her  all  the  details  of  that  affair,  until 
she  knew  as  well  as  he  did  every  word  he  had 
spoken  and  every  step  he  had  taken  in  the  exe- 
cution of  his  purpose. 

Baillie's  progress  toward  recovery  was  neces- 
sarily slow,  but  it  was  steady  and  continuous,  and 
after  many  weeks,  when  he  was  permitted  to  sit 
up  for  awhile  each  day,  he  begged  to  hear  about 
the  progress  of  the  war. 

It  was  now  September,  1862,  and  what  she 
had  to  tell  him  was  one  of  the  most  dramatic 
stories  that  the  history  of  our  American  war  has 
to  relate. 

McClellan  had  proved  himself  to  be  a  great 
organiser  and  a  masterful  engineer,  and  he  had 
at  last  tried  to  prove  himself  to  be  also  a  great 
general. 

He  had  so  perfectly  fortified  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington that  a  brigade  or  a  division  or  two  might 
easily  hold  it  against  the  most  determined  hosts. 
He  had  organised  the  "  regiments  cowering  upon 
the  Potomac,"  and  the  scores  of  other  regiments 
that  had  come  pouring  into  the  capital,  into  one 
of  the  finest  armies  that  had  ever  taken  the  field  in 
any  country  in  the  world.  He  had  multiplied  his 

348 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

artillery,  and  swelled  his  cavalry  force  to  propor- 
tions that  rendered  it  numerically  superior  to 
Stuart's  "  Mamalukes."  He  had  so  perfected  his 
supply  departments  —  quartermaster's,  commis- 
sary's, medical,  and  ordnance  —  that  their  work 
was  accomplished  with  the  precision,  the  cer- 
tainty, and  the  smoothness  of  well-ordered  ma- 
chinery. 

He  had  brought  under  his  immediate  command 
a  perfectly  organised  army,  numbering  nearly  or 
quite  two  hundred  thousand  men.1  The  Confed- 
erates had  in  Virginia  about  one-fourth  that  num- 
ber available  for  the  defence  of  Richmond.  Nor 
could  this  army  of  defence  be  reinforced  from 
other  parts  of  the  South,  for  during  the  long 
waiting-time  in  Virginia,  events  of  the  most  vital 
importance  had  been  occurring  at  the  West.  Chief 
of  these  in  importance,  though  the  government 
at  Washington  was  slow  to  recognise  the  fact, 
was  the  discovery  there  of  a  really  capable  com- 
mander—  General  Grant.  He  had  captured 
Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  thus  gaining  con- 

'Rossiter  Johnson,  in  his  "History  of  the  War  of 
Secession,"  says  that  121,000  were  sent  to  Fortress  Mon- 
roe and  seventy  thousand  left  at  Washington,  besides 
McDowell's  corps  and  Bleuker's  division. 

349 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

trol  of  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Rivers, 
breaking  the  Confederate  line  of  defence,  and 
pushing  the  Southern  armies  completely  out  of 
Kentucky,  and  almost  out  of  Tennessee.  He  was 
preparing,  when  McClellan  moved,  to  complete 
that  part  of  his  work  by  righting  the  tremendous 
battle  of  Shiloh. 

Thus  the  Confederates  could  not  afford  to  draw 
so  much  as  a  single  regiment  or  battery  from  that 
field  for  the  strengthening  of  Johnston's  force  in 
Virginia.  Finally,  early  in  March,  Johnston  had 
withdrawn  from  Centreville  and  Manassas  to  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  Richmond. 

It  was  in  such  circumstances  that  McClellan 
at  last  undertook  to  use  the  great  army  he  had 
created,  for  the  purpose  it  was  meant  to  ac- 
complish. Early  in  the  spring,  he  transferred 
120,000  men  by  water  to  Fortress  Monroe,  leav- 
ing seventy  thousand  at  and  near  Washington, 
to  hold  that  capital  secure.  Somewhat  more  than 
half  of  this  force  at  Washington  was  to  advance 
upon  Richmond  by  way  of  Fredericksburg,  and 
add  forty  thousand  men  to  McClellan's  great 
army  when  he  should  sit  down  before  the  Con- 
federate capital.  He,  meanwhile,  was  to  march 

350 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

up  the  peninsula  formed  by  the  York  and  James 
Rivers,  supported  by  the  navy  on  either  side. 

Richmond  was  seemingly  doomed,  and  every- 
where at  the  North  the  expectation  was  that 
McClellan,  with  his  overwhelming  forces  and  his 
well-nigh  perfect  organisation,  would  make  an 
end  of  the  war  before  the  first  anniversary  of  the 
battle  of  Manassas. 

If  McClellan  had  been  half  as  capable  in  the 
field  as  he  had  proved  himself  to  be  in  the  work 
of  organisation,  this  might  easily  have  happened. 
But  he  was  cautious  to  a  positively  paralysing  de- 
gree. It  was  his  habit  of  mind  to  overestimate 
his  enemy's  strength  to  his  own  undoing.  Thus 
when  he  began  his  advance  up  the  peninsula,  with 
nearly  sixty  thousand  men,  to  be  almost  imme- 
diately reinforced  to  one  hundred  thousand  and 
more,  he  found  a  Confederate  line  stretched  across 
the  peninsula  at  Yorktown.  It  consisted  of  thir- 
teen thousand  men  under  Magruder,  and  with  his 
enormous  superiority  of  numbers,  McClellan 
might  have  run  over  it  in  a  day,  while  with  his 
transports,  protected  by  gunboats,  he  might  easily 
have  carried  his  army  by  it  on  either  side,  com- 
pelling its  retreat  or  surrender.  But  in  his  ex- 

351 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

cessive  caution  he  assumed  that  the  entire  Con- 
federate force  was  concentrated  there,  and  his 
imagination  doubled  the  strength  of  that  force. 
He  confidently  believed  that  the  Yorktown  lines 
were  defended  by  an  army  of  eighty  thousand  or 
more,  and  instead  of  finding  out  the  facts  by  an 
assault,  he  wasted  nearly  a  month  in  scientifically 
besieging  the  little  force  of  thirteen  thousand 
men,  with  an  army  six  or  eight  times  as  great, 
and  a  siege  train  of  enormous  strength. 

When  at  last  he  had  pushed  his  siege  parallels 
near  enough  for  an  assault,  he  found  his  enemy 
gone,  and  discovered  that  the  great  frowning 
cannon  in  their  works  were  nothing  more  than 
wooden  logs,  painted  black,  and  mounted  like 
heavy  guns. 

The  North  had  not  yet  found  a  general  capable 
of  commanding  the  superb  army  it  had  created, 
or  of  making  effective  use  of  those  enormously 
superior  resources  which  from  the  beginning  had 
been  at  its  disposal.  Grant  had  splendidly  demon- 
strated his  capacity  at  Shiloh,  but  Halleck  had 
immediately  superseded  him,  and  completely 
thrown  away  the  opportunity  there  presented. 
Grant  was  still  denied  any  but  volunteer  rank, 

352 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

and  for  many  weeks  after  Shiloh  he  was  left,  as 
he  has  himself  recorded,  with  none  but  nominal 
command,  and  was  not  even  consulted  by  his 
immeasurably  inferior  superior. 

McClellan  at  last  reached  the  neighbourhood  of 
Richmond,  and  placed  his  great  army  on  the  east- 
ern and  northern  fronts  of  the  Confederate  capi- 
tal. But  still  permitting  his  imagination  to  mis- 
lead him,  he  confidently  believed  the  Confederate 
forces  to  be  quite  twice  as  numerous  as  they  were 
in  fact.  So  instead  of  pressing  them  vigorously, 
as  a  more  enterprising  and  less  excessively  cau- 
tious commander  would  have  done,  he  proceeded 
to  fortify  and  for  weeks  kept  his  splendid  army 
idle  in  a  pestilential  swamp,  whose  miasms  were 
far  deadlier  than  bullets  and  shells  could  have 
been. 

At  the  end  of  May  the  Confederates  assailed  his 
left  wing,  believing  that  a  flood  in  the  river  had 
isolated  it  from  the  rest  of  the  army,  and  a 
bloody  five  days'  battle  ensued,  with  no  decisive 
results,  except  to  demonstrate  the  fighting  qual- 
ity of  the  troops  under  McClellan's  command. 

Still  he  hesitated  and  fortified,  and  urgently 
called  for  reinforcements.  These  to  the  number 

353 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

of  forty  thousand  were  on  their  way  to  join  him, 
marching  directly  southward  from  Washington. 

But  the  Confederates  had  been  more  fortunate 
than  their  foes.  They  had  found  their  great 
commander,  a  piece  of  good  fortune  which  did  not 
happen  to  the  Federal  armies  until  nearly  two 
years  later.  After  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines  at 
the  end  of  May  and  the  beginning  of  June,  Robert 
E.  Lee  assumed  personal  command  of  the  forces 
defending  Richmond,  and  from  that  hour  the 
great  game  of  war  was  played  by  him  with  a 
sagacity  and  a  boldness  that  had  not  been  seen 
before. 

Lee's  problem  was  to  drive  McClellan's  army 
away  from  Richmond,  and  transfer  the  scene  of 
active  hostilities  to  some  more  distant  point.  To 
that  end  he  must  prevent  the  coming  of  McDowell 
with  his  army  to  McClellan's  assistance.  Accord- 
ingly he  ordered  Jackson  to  sweep  down  the 
Shenandoah  valley,  threatening  an  advance  upon 
Washington  in  its  rear,  thus  putting  the  Federals 
there  upon  their  defence.  He  rightly  believed 
that  the  excessive  concern  felt  at  the  North  for  the 
safety  of  the  capital  would  make  Jackson's  opera- 
tions an  occasion  of  great  alarm. 

354 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

The  result  was  precisely  what  Lee  had  intended. 
Jackson  swept  like  a  hurricane  through  the  val- 
ley, moving  so  rapidly  and  appearing  so  suddenly 
at  unexpected  and  widely  separated  points  as 
to  seem  both  ubiquitous  and  irresistible.  The 
Federal  army  which  was  marching  to  reinforce 
McClellan  was  promptly  turned  aside  and  sent 
over  the  mountains  to  meet  and  check  Jackson. 
While  it  was  hurrying  westward,  Jackson  sud- 
denly slipped  out  of  the  valley  and  carried  his 
"  foot  cavalry  "  —  as  his  rapidly  marching  corps 
had  come  to  be  called  —  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Richmond,  where  Lee  was  ready  to  fall  upon 
his  adversary  in  full  force,  striking  his  right  flank 
like  a  thunderbolt,  pushing  into  his  rear,  pressing 
him  back  in  successive  encounters,  threatening 
his  base  of  supplies  on  the  York  River,  and  finally 
compelling  him  to  retreat  to  the  cover  of  his  gun- 
boats at  Harrison's  Landing  on  the  James. 

All  this  constituted  what  is  known  as  the 
"  Seven  Days'  Battles."  It  was  a  brilliant  opera- 
tion, attended  at  every -step  by  heroic  fighting 
on  both  sides,  and  by  consummate  skill  on  both 
—  for  if  Lee's  successful  operation  for  his  enemy's 
dislodgment  was  good  strategy,  McClellan's  sue- 

355 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

cessful  withdrawal  of  his  army  from  its  imperilled 
position  to  one  in  which  it  could  not  be  assailed, 
was  scarcely  less  so. 

But  still  more  dramatic  events  were  to  follow. 
McClellan  had  been  driven  away  from  the  im- 
mediate neighbourhood  of  the  Confederate  cap- 
ital, but  his  new  position  at  Harrison's  Landing 
was  one  from  which  he  might  at  any  moment 
advance  again  either  upon  Richmond  or  upon 
Petersburg,  which  was  afterward  proved  to  be 
the  military  key  to  the  capital.  His  army  was 
still  numerically  stronger  than  Lee's,  and  it  might 
be  reinforced  at  any  time,  and  to  any  desired 
extent,  while  Lee  had  already  under  his  command 
every  man  that  could  be  spared  from  other  points. 
More  important  still,  the  fighting  strength  of 
McClellan's  -forces  had  been  bettered  by  the  bat- 
tling they  had  done.  The  men  were  inured  to 
•  war  work  now,  and  had  improved  in  steadiness 
and  discipline  under  the  tutelage  of  experience. 

Except  that  its  confidence  in  its  general  was 
somewhat  impaired,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  a  stronger  and  more  trustworthy  war  imple- 
ment than  it  had  been  at  the  beginning.  So  long 
as  it  should  remain  where  it  was,  Lee  must  keep 

356 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

the  greater  part  of  his  own  force  in  the  intrench- 
ments  in  front  of  Richmond,  and  the  seat  ot 
war  must  remain  discouragingly  near  the  Con- 
federate capital.  In  the  meanwhile  a  new  Federal 
force,  called  the  Army  of  Virginia,  had  been  sent 
out  from  Washington  under  General  John  Pope, 
to  assail  Richmond  from  the  north  and  west,  while 
securely  covering  Washington.  Pope's  base  was 
at  Manassas,  and  his  army  had  been  pushed  for- 
ward to  the  line  of  the  Rappahannock,  where  there 
was  no  army  to  meet  it  and  check  its  advance 
upon  Richmond. 

Lee  must  act  quickly.  For  should  Pope  come 
within  striking-distance  of  Richmond  on  the 
northwest,  McClellan's  army  would  very  certainly 
advance  from  the  east,  and  Richmond  would  be 
threatened  by  a  stronger  force  than  ever  before. 

But  Lee  could  not  move  in  adequate  force  to 
meet  and  check  Pope's  advance,  without  leaving 
Richmond  undefended  against  any  advance  that 
McClellan  might  see  fit  to  make.  His  perplexing 
problem  was  to  compel  the  withdrawal  of 
McClellan,  and  the  transfer  of  his  army  to  Wash- 
ington. 

To  effect  this,  Lee  again  played  upon  the  ner- 

357 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

vous  apprehension  felt  in  Washington  for  the 
safety  of  that  city.  He  detached  Jackson,  and 
sent  him  to  the  Rappahannock  to  threaten  Pope, 
while  remaining  within  reach  of  Richmond  in 
case  of  need.  This  movement  increased  the  ap- 
prehension in  Washington,  and  a  considerable 
part  of  McClellan's  force  was  withdrawn  by 
water.  Thereupon  Lee  sent  another  corps  to 
the  Rappahannock,  a  proceeding  which  led  to  the 
withdrawal  of  pretty  nearly  all  that  remained  of 
McClellan's  army,  to  reinforce  Pope,  and  the 
abandonment  of  the  campaign  by  way  of  the 
peninsula.  Lee  instantly  transferred  the  remain- 
der of  his  army  to  the  Rappahannock,  leaving 
only  a  small  garrison  in  the  works  at  Richmond. 
Pope  was  alert  to  meet  Lee  at  every  point,  and 
he  was  being  strengthened  by  daily  reinforce- 
ments from  what  had  been  McClellan's  army. 
But  in  Pope,  with  all  his  energy  and  dash  and 
extraordinary  self-confidence,  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment had  not  found  a  leader  capable  of  playing 
the  great  war  game  on  equal  terms  with  Robert  E. 
Lee.  Grant  and  Sherman  were  still  in  subordi- 
nate commands  at  the  West,  while  Halleck,  who 
believed  in  neither  of  them,  had  been  brought  to 

358 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Washington  and  placed  in  supreme  control  of  all 
the  Union  armies. 

Lee  quickly  proved  himself  greatly  more  than 
a  match  for  Pope  in  the  art  of  war.  Making  a 
brave  show  of  intending  to  force  his  way  across 
the  river  at  a  point  where  Pope  could  easily  hold 
his  own,  Lee  detached  Jackson  and  sent  him 
around  Bull  Run  Mountains  and  through  Thor- 
oughfare Gap  to  fall  upon  his  adversary's  base 
at  Manassas.  As  soon  as  Jackson  was  well  on 
his  way,  Lee  sent  other  forces  to  join  him,  while 
still  keeping  up  his  pretence  of  a  purpose  to  force 
a  crossing. 

It  was  not  until  the  head  of  Jackson's  column 
appeared  near  Manassas  that  Pope  suspected  his 
adversary's  purpose.  He  then  hastily  fell  back 
from  the  river,  and  concentrated  all  his  forces 
at  Manassas,  while  Lee,  with  equal  haste,  moved, 
with  the  rest  of  his  army,  to  join  Jackson. 

His  strategy  had  completely  succeeded,  and  he 
promptly  assailed  Pope,  with  his  entire  force, 
on  the  very  field  where  the  first  great  battle  of 
the  war  had  been  fought,  a  little  more  than  a 
year  before. 

Pope  struggled  desperately,  but  after  two  days 

359 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

of  battle,  he  was  completely  beaten  and  forced  to 
take  refuge  behind  the  defences  of  Washington. 
This  was  at  the  beginning  of  September,  just 
three  months  after  Lee  had  taken  personal  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  Within 
that  brief  time  he  had  done  things,  the  simplest 
statement  of  which  reads  like  a  wonder-story. 
At  the  beginning  of  June  a  Federal  army  of 
120,000  men  lay  almost  within  cannon-shot 
of  the  Confederate  capital,  while  another  Fed- 
eral force  about  one-third  as  large  was  marching 
unopposed  to  form  a  junction  with  it,  and 
still  other  Federal  armies  occupied  the  valley 
and  sent  raiders  at  will  throughout  Northern 
Virginia.  At  the  beginning  of  September  there 
remained  no  Federal  army  at  all  in  Virginia  to 
oppose  Lee's  will,  whatever  it  might  chance  to  be. 
McClellan  with  his  grand  army  had  been  beaten 
in  battle,  and  driven  into  a  retreat  which  ended 
in  his  complete  withdrawal,  after  a  disastrous 
campaign,  which  at  its  beginning  had  seemed 
certain  of  success.  Jackson  had  cleared  the  valley 
of  armies  superior  to  his  own  in  numbers.  Pope 
had  been  outwitted  in  strategy,  beaten  in  battle, 
and  driven  to  cover  at  Washington. 
360 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

That  was  the  story  that  Agatha  related  to  Bail- 
lie  early  in  September,  when  he  was  fit  to  hear 
it.  It  stirred  his  blood  with  enthusiasm,  and  bred 
in  him  an  eagerness  almost  dangerous,  to  be  at 
the  head  of  his  battery  again,  and  a  sharer  in  this 
splendid  work  of  war. 

"  Your  story  is  not  ended  yet,"  he  said,  when 
Agatha  had  finished.  "  It  is  '  to  be  continued,'  — 
be  very  sure  of  that.  Lee  will  not  rest  content 
with  what  he  has  done,  marvellous  as  it  is.  He 
took  the  offensive  as  soon  as  he  had  disposed  of 
McClellan.  He  will  surely  not  now  assume  the 
defensive  again,  as  our  army  did  a  year  ago  after 
the  battle  of  Manassas.  He  is  obviously  made 
of  quite  other  stuff  than  that  of  his  predecessors 
in  command.  And  here  am  I  losing  my  share 
in  it  all,  —  a  convalescent  in  charge  of  a  nurse, 
and  in  hiding  in  the  enemy's  country.  I  tell  you, 
Agatha,  I  must  break  out  of  this.  As  soon  as  I 
have  strength  enough  to  ride  a  horse,  I  must  find 
a  way  of  getting  back  to  Virginia.  And  with 
the  stimulus  of  strong  desire,  I  shall  not  be  long 
now  in  regaining  that  much  of  strength.  In  the 
meanwhile,  I  must  think  out  a  plan  by  which  I 

361 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

can  pass  the  Potomac  without  falling  into  the 
enemy's  hands." 

"  I  have  already  thought  of  all  that,"  returned 
his  companion,  "  and  I  have  had  others  thinking 
of  it,  too,  —  all  the  friends  in  Maryland  with 
whom  I  am  in  correspondence.  After  studying 
the  conditions  minutely  we  are  agreed  in  the  pos- 
itive conviction  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  you 
to  get  through  the  Federal  lines,  which  are  more 
rigidly  drawn  and  more  vigilantly  guarded  now 
than  ever  before.  You  cannot  even  start  on  such 
a  journey  without  being  arrested  and  imprisoned, 
and  that  would  completely  defeat  your  purpose." 

"  I  must  take  the  chances,  then.  For  I  simply 
will  not  sit  idly  here  after  I  get  well  enough  to 
sit  in  a  saddle." 

"  Listen,"  commanded  Agatha.  "  You  are  ex- 
citing yourself,  and  that  is  very  bad  for  you. 
Besides,  it  is  wholly  unnecessary,  for  I  have 
thought  myself  not  into  despair,  but  into  hopeful- 
ness, rather.  I  have  devised  a  plan,  the  success 
of  which  is  practically  assured  in  advance,  by 
which  you  and  I  are  going  back  into  the  Confed- 
eracy. No,  I  will  not  tell  you  what  it  is  just  now. 
You  have  excited  and  wearied  yourself  too  much 
362 


The    Master    of   Warlock 

already.  You  must  go  back  to  your  bed  now, 
and  sleep  for  several  hours.  When  you  wake,  you 
shall  have  something  to  eat,  and  after  that,  if  I 
find  you  sufficiently  calm,  I  will  tell  you  all  about 
it.  In  the  meantime,  you  may  rest  easy  in  your 
mind,  for  my  plan  is  sure  to  succeed,  and  it  will 
not  be  difficult  of  execution." 


363 


XXVIII 

WHEN  A  MAN  TALKS  TOO  MUCH 

WHEN  Baillie  had  had  his  rest,  he  asked 
Agatha  again  to  tell  him  of  her  plans. 
She  explained  that  it  was  understood 
in  the  little  town  that  he  was  a  French  gentleman 
who  had  suffered  a  severe  hemorrhage;  that  as 
soon  as  he  should  be  sufficiently  recovered,  it  was 
his  purpose  to  return  to  his  own  country  in  charge 
of  his  French  nurse ;  that  she  planned  in  that  way 
to  sail  with  him  from  New  York  for  Liverpool, 
where  he  would  be  free,  as  soon  as  his  health 
should  return,  to  go  to  the  Bahamas  and  sail 
thence  for  Charleston,  Wilmington,  or  some  other 
Southern  port,  in  one  of  the  English  blockade- 
runners  that  were  now  making  trips  almost  with 
the  regularity  of  packets. 

Baillie  approvea  the  plan,  though  he  lamented 
the  length  of  time  its  execution  must  consume. 

"  Agatha,"  he  said,  —  for  since  that  morning 

364 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

at  Fairfax  Court-house  he  had  addressed  her 
only  by  her  first  name,  —  "I  owe  you  my  life,  and 
I  shall  owe  you  my  liberty,  too,  as  soon  as  this 
admirable  plan  of  yours  can  be  carried  out.  I 
owe  you,  even  now,  such  liberty  as  I  have,  for  but 
for  you  —  " 

"  You  mustn't  forget  Sam,"  she  interrupted ; 
"  it  was  he  .and  not  I  who  rescued  you  from  the 
prison  hospital." 

"  O,  my  appreciation  of  Sam's  devotion  is 
limitless,  and  my  gratitude  to  him  will  last  so 
long  as  I  live.  But  it  was  you  who  brought  him 
North;  it  was  you  who  planned  my  rescue  at 
terrible  risk  to  yourself,  and  put  Sam  in  the  way 
of  accomplishing  it.  And  the  doctor  tells  me 
without  any  sort  of  qualification  that  but  for 
your  coming  to  me  as  a  nurse  when  you  did,  I 
should  have  died  certainly  and  quickly.  Don't 
interrupt  me,  please,  I'm  not  going  to  embarrass 
you  with  an  effort  to  thank  you  for  what  you  have 
done.  There  is  a  generosity  so  great  that  expres- 
sions of  thanks  in  return  for  it  are  a  mockery  — 
almost  an  insult,  just  as  an  offer  to  pay  for  it 
would  be.  I  shall  not  speak  of  these  things  again 
—  not  now  at  least,  not  until  time  and  place  and 

365 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

circumstance  shall  be  fit.  I  only  want  you  to 
know  that  silence  on  my  part  does  not  signify 
indifference." 

Baillie  made  no  reference  to  that  occasion 
when  an  untimely  declaration  of  his  love  had  been 
wrung  from  him  only  to  be  met  by  a  passionless 
reminder  that  the  time  and  place  were  inappro- 
priate. He  felt  instinctively  that  any  reference 
to  that  utterance  of  his  would  be  in  effect  a  new 
declaration  of  his  love.  In  this  spirit  of  chivalry, 
Baillie  scrupulously  guarded  both  his  manner 
and  his  words  at  this  time,  lest  his  feelings  should 
betray  him  into  some  expression  that  might 
embarrass  the  woman  whose  care  of  him  must 
continue  for  some  time  to  come.  Feeling,  on  this 
occasion,  that  he  had  approached  dangerously 
near  to  some  utterance  which  might  subject  his 
companion  to  embarrassment,  he  resolutely  turned 
the  conversation  into  less  hazardous  channels. 

"  Your  plan  is  undoubtedly  the  best  that  could 
be  made  under  the  circumstances,"  he  said,  "  and 
as  for  the  waste  of  time,  we  must  simply  recon- 
cile ourselves  to  that.  After  all,  I  cannot  hope 
to  be  strong  enough  for  several  months  to  come, 
to  resume  command  of  my  battery  in  such  cam- 

366 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

paigns  as  this  great  leader  of  ours  will  surely 
give  us.  For  he  is  really  and  truly  a  great  leader, 
Agatha.  Only  a  great  general  could  have 
wrought  the  marvels  he  has  achieved.  He  would 
have  proved  himself  great  if  he  had  done  nothing 
more  than  prevent  McClellan's  reinforcement  by 
sending  Jackson  to  the  valley.  That  was  a  great 
thought.  And  the  next  was  greater.  Having 
compelled  the  Federals  to  divert  their  reinforcing 
army  from  its  purpose,  he  brought  Jackson  to 
Richmond,  and  fell  upon  McClellan  with  a  fury 
that  compelled  his  vastly  superior  army  to  aban- 
don its  campaign  and  retreat  to  the  cover  of  its 
gunboats.  There  was  a  second  achievement  of 
the  kind  that  only  great  generals  accomplish. 
And  even  that  did  not  fulfil  the  measure  of  his 
greatness.  With  a  truly  Napoleonic  impulse,  and 
by  truly  Napoleonic  methods,  he  instantly  con- 
verted his  successful  defence  of  Richmond  into 
an  offence  which  has  been  equally  successful,  so 
far.  By  his  prompt  movement  against  Pope  he 
has  compelled  the  complete  abandonment  of 
McClellan's  campaign  and  the  withdrawal  of  his 
army  from  Virginia.  By  his  crushing  defeat  of 
Pope,  he  has  cleared  Virginia  of  its  enemies,  and 

367 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

changed  the  aspect  of  the  war,  from  one  of  timor- 
ous defence  on  the  part  of  the  Confederates  to 
one  of  confident  aggression." 

"  What  a  pity  it  is,"  answered  Agatha,  "  that 
some  such  man  was  not  in  command  when  the 
first  battle  of  Manassas  was  won !  " 

"  Yes.  Such  a  man,  with  such  an  opportunity, 
would  have  made  a  speedy  end  of  the  trouble. 
He  would  never  have  given  McClellan  a  chance 
to  organise  such  an  army  as  that  which  has  been 
besieging  Richmond.  However,  that  is  not  what 
I  was  thinking  of.  I  was  going  to  say  that  a  man 
capable  of  doing  what  Lee  has  done,  will  not 
rest  content  with  that.  He  will  continue  in  the 
aggressive  way  in  which  he  has  begun,  and  we 
shall  hear  presently  of  other  battles  and  other 
campaigns.  Agatha,  I  simply  must  bear  a  part 
in  all  this.  I  am  getting  stronger  every  day  now, 
and  can  sit  up  two  hours  at  a  time.  Why  can 
we  not  now  carry  out  your  plan?  Why  can  we 
not  go  at  once  to  New  York  in  our  assumed  per- 
sonalities, and  sail  immediately,  so  as  to  save 
all  the  time  we  can  ?  " 

"  I  have  thought  of  that,"  the  young  woman 
answered,  "  but  the  doctor  peremptorily  forbids 

368 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

it  for  the  present.  He  hopes  you  will  be  well 
enough  two  or  three  weeks  hence  to  make  the 
effort,  but  to  make  it  short  of  that  time,  he  says, 
would  be  almost  certainly  to  spoil  all  by  bringing 
on  a  relapse.  You  must  be  patient;  we  shall  in 
that  way  make  our  success  a  certainty,  and  the 
war  will  last  long  enough  for  you  to  have  your 
part  in  it,  surely." 

''  Yes,  unhappily  for  our  country,  it  will  last 
long  enough." 

The  next  morning  brought  news  of  a  startling 
character.  Lee  was  already  beginning  to  fulfil 
Baillie's  prediction  by  an  aggressive  campaign. 
Having  driven  the  enemy  out  of  Virginia,  he  now 
undertook  to  transfer  the  scene  of  the  fighting  to 
the  region  north  of  the  Potomac.  He  had  sent 
Jackson  again  to  clear  the  valley,  and  was  march- 
ing another  corps  northward  upon  a  parallel  line 
east  of  the  mountains,  while  holding  the  remainder 
of  his  small  but  potent  army  in  readiness  to  form 
a  junction  with  either  of  the  detached  corps  when 
necessary.  The  movement  clearly  foreshadowed 
a  campaign  in  Maryland  which,  if  it  should  prove 
successful,  would  place  the  Confederates  in  rear  of 
Washington,  and  render  that  capital  untenable, 

369 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

if  Lee  should  win  a  single  decisive  battle  north 
of  the  Potomac. 

The  alarm  in  Washington  was  such  as  almost 
to  precipitate  a  panic.  For  had  not  Lee  and  his 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  proved  themselves 
far  more  than  a  match  for  every  general  and 
every  army  that  had  tried  conclusions  with  them  ? 
Moreover,  as  they  were  advancing,  full  of  the 
enthusiasm  of  recent  victory,  and  free  to  pursue 
whatever  routes  they  pleased,  there  was  nobody 
to  meet  them  except  one  or  the  other  of  two 
generals  already  discredited  by  defeat  at  Lee's 
hands,  and  an  army  drawn  from  those  that  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  had  so  recently  over- 
thrown in  the  field. 

Pope  was  no  longer  thought  of  as  a  leader  fit 
for  the  task  of  meeting  Lee.  His  campaign  in 
Virginia  had  ended  so  disastrously,  that  men 
forgot  all  his  former  achievements,  at  Island 
Number  Ten  in  the  Mississippi,  and  elsewhere. 
He  had  already  been  removed  from  command  and 
sent  to  fight  Indians  in  the  Northwest.  There 
remained  only  McClellan,  whom  Lee  had  already 
outmanoeuvred  and  outfought,  and  both  the 
government  and  the  army  had  lost  confidence  in 

370 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

him.  But  the  emergency  was  great,  and  McClel- 
lan,  who  had  been  removed,  was  again  ordered  to 
take  command. 

From  the  two  armies  that  had  been  driven  out 
of  Virginia,  a  new  one  was  quickly  organised, 
which  greatly  outnumbered  Lee's  force.  But 
instead  of  moving  quickly  to  the  assault,  as 
Grant,  or  Sherman,  or  Thomas  would  have  done 
under  like  circumstances,  McClellan  moved  at  a 
tortoise-like  pace,  giving  his  adversary  ample  time 
in  which  to  unite  his  three  columns,  pass  the 
Potomac  unmolested,  and  push  forward  into 
Maryland. 

All  this  was  to  come  a  little  later,  however. 
On  the  morning  when  Agatha  read  the  news- 
papers to  Baillie,  all  that  was  known  was  that 
Lee  was  rapidly  moving  northward,  with  evident 
intent  to  invade  Maryland  and  push  his  columns 
into  the  rear  of  Washington. 

"  This  is  good  news  for  us,  Agatha,"  Baillie 
said,  when  the  despatches  had  been  read.  "  Un- 
less Lee  receives  a  check,  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  will  be  swarming  all  about  us  here 
within  three  or  four  days.  If  that  occurs,  you  and 
I  and  Sam  will  have  no  difficulty  in  going  to  Vir- 

37 i 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

ginia  by  a  much  more  direct  route  than  the  one 
we  have  been  planning  to  follow.  An  ambulance 
ride  with  liberty  for  its  objective  will  do  me  no 
harm,  while  you  and  Sam  shall  be  provided  with 
good  horses.  Stuart  will  take  care  of  that,  even 
if  he  has  to  capture  the  horses  from  the  enemy." 

"  We  may  safely  trust  him  for  so  much  of 
accommodation,"  answered  the  girl.  "  But  if  you 
excite  yourself  as  you  are  doing  now,  you'll  be  ill 
again,  and  spoil  all.  You  must  go  back  to  bed 
at  once  and  go  to  sleep.  That  is  your  shortest 
road  to  rescue,  now,  whether  Lee  comes  this  way 
or  is  beaten  back.  In  either  case  you  will  need 
all  of  strength  that  you  can  manage  to  accumu- 
late." 

The  sick  man  obeyed,  so  far  at  least  as  going 
to  bed  was  concerned.  But  he  found  it  impossible 
to  comply  with  his  nurse's  further  injunction  by 
going  to  sleep.  His  pulses  were  throbbing  vio- 
lently with  the  excitement  of  hope,  and  his  nerves 
were  tense  almost  to  the  verge  of  collapse.  When 
the  doctor  returned  from  his  round  of  visits  he 
found  his  patient  in  a  fever  that,  in  one  so  weak, 
was  dangerous.  During  the  following  night 
Baillie  grew  worse,  and  by  the  next  morning  the 

372 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

physician  was  convinced  that  he  had  lost  most 
if  not  all  of  the  ground  that  he  had  gained  during 
three  weeks  of  convalescence. 

"  Mademoiselle  Roland,"  he  said,  "  I  must 
command  you  to  forbid  him  to  talk  hereafter, 
even  in  French." 

Baillie  heard  the  remark,  and  came  instantly  to 
Agatha's  defence. 

"  It  was  not  her  fault,  Doctor,"  he  said.  "  It 
was  all  my  own." 

"  O,  I  know  that,"  answered  the  physician. 
"  She's  the  discreetest  nurse  I  ever  knew,  while 
you  are  without  question  the  most  obstinate,  can- 
tankerous, and  unruly  patient  a  nurse  was  ever 
called  upon  to  keep  in  subjection." 

"  Am  I  all  that?  "  Baillie  asked  Agatha,  when 
the  doctor  had  left  the  room ;  "  all  that  he  said  ?  " 

"  No,  certainly  not.  But  you  mustn't  talk. 
Go  to  sleep." 

"  Thank  you !  "  was  all  that  he  could  say  in  the 
stupor  which  the  physician  had  induced  with  a 
sleeping  potion. 


373 


XXIX 

A   STRUGGLE   OF  GIANTS 

WHEN  Baillie  woke  from  his  drug-com- 
pelled sleep,  his  condition  was  far  better 
than  the  doctor  had  anticipated.     Lee 
was  coming  now,  and  the  sick  man  was  buoyed 
and  strengthened  by  a  confident  hope  of  speedy 
rescue.    The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was  in 
Maryland,  and  Baillie  was  sure  that  it  would  push 
rapidly  eastward  to  and  beyond  the  town  where 
he  had  so  long  lain  ill. 

So  it  would  have  done  if  all  had  gone  well. 
But  there  was  a  Federal  force  of  eleven  thousand 
men  at  Harper's  Ferry.  By  all  the  principles  of 
strategy  it  ought  to  have  retired  as  soon  as  Lee 
crossed  the  Potomac  above  or  below  that  point. 
To  remain  was  to  be  cut  off  and  to  invite  capture. 
McClellan,  as  a  trained  and  scientific  soldier, 
understood  this  perfectly,  and  he  wished  the  force 
at  Harper's  Ferry  to  be  withdrawn  and  added  to 

374 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

his  army.  He  was  overruled  by  the  civilian 
authorities  at  Washington,  and  the  detached 
force  remained  in  its  entrenchments,  completely 
isolated  and  helpless. 

But  in  the  meanwhile  its  presence  at  Harper's 
Ferry  completely  blocked  Lee's  only  secure  route 
of  retreat  in  case  of  disaster.  It  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  him  to  reduce  it  before  continuing 
his  progress  northward  or  eastward.  To  that  end 
he  was  obliged  to  send  Jackson  back  across  the 
Potomac,  with  orders  to  assail  Harper's  Ferry 
from  the  south,  while  other  forces,  detached  for 
that  purpose,  should  hold  positions  north  and  east 
of  the  town,  thus  preventing  the  garrison's 
escape. 

Jackson  did  his  part  promptly  and  perfectly, 
as  it  was  his  custom  to  do.  He  carried  the  place, 
capturing  the  entire  garrison  of  eleven  thousand 
men,  and  all  the  guns,  ammunition,  and  military 
stores,  which  had  been  accumulated  there  in  vast 
quantities. 

This  was  a  very  important  capture,  but  in 
order  to  accomplish  it,  Lee  had  been  compelled  to 
scatter  his  forces  in  a  dangerous  fashion,  besides 
losing  the  advantage  that  would  have  attended 

375 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

a  rapid  advance  against  an  enemy  who  could  not 
know  whither  he  purposed  to  go,  but  must  guard 
all  roads  at  once.  For  from  Lee's  position  after 
he  had  crossed  the  river  it  was  open  to  him  to 
advance  upon  Washington  or  Baltimore  or  Phila- 
delphia as  he  might  elect,  keeping  his  adversary 
in  the  meanwhile  in  a  state  of  embarrassing  un- 
certainty as  to  his  purposes. 

But  when  he  sent  Jackson  back  and  detached 
other  strong  forces  to  hold  the  avenues  of  escape 
from  Harper's  Ferry,  his  army  was  badly  scat- 
tered, its  several  parts  lying  at  too  great  a  dis- 
tance from  each  other  for  ready  cooperation. 

During  the  consequent  days  of  waiting,  Mc- 
Clellan  was  advancing  in  leisurely  fashion  to 
meet  the  Confederate  movement,  and  his  army 
was  every  day  adding  to  its  strength  by  the  hurry- 
ing forward  of  fresh  regiments  and  brigades  to 
its  reinforcement. 

Finally  Lee  issued  an  order  setting  forth  in 
detail  his  plan  for  concentrating  his  scattered 
forces.  Copies  of  this  order,  showing  the  exact 
location  of  each  part  of  the  army  and  the  move- 
ments to  be  made  by  each,  were  sent  to  all  of 

376 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

the  corps  commanders.  One  of  those  copies  was 
lost,  and  fell  into  McClellan's  hands. 

For  once  that  most  leisurely  of  generals  was  in 
a  hurry.  His  opportunity  had  come  to  destroy 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  by  beating  it  in 
detail.  He  threw  a  strong  force  forward  to  assail 
certain  of  its  positions.  The  assault  proved  suc- 
cessful, but  the  success  did  not  come  so  quickly  as 
it  should  have  done.  By  determined  righting  Lee 
gained  time  in  which  to  bring  his  scattered  forces 
together  again  at  Sharpsburg  before  his  adversary 
could  fall  upon  him  in  force.  There,  on  Antietam 
Creek,  on  the  i/th  of  September,  1862,  was 
fought  a  battle  which  is  reckoned  the  bloodiest 
of  all  the  war,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers 
engaged. 

McClellan  had  seventy  thousand  men  in  line, 
Lee  forty  thousand.  The  struggle  began  early  in 
the  morning  and  continued  until  after  nightfall. 
The  fighting  on  both  sides  was  as  heroic  and  as 
determined  as  any  that  was  ever  done  in  the 
world.  At  the  end  of  it  all  both  sides  claimed 
the  victory,  and  neither  had  in  fact  won  it. 
Neither  had  been  able  to  drive  the  other  from  his 
position.  Neither  had  broken  the  other's  lines 

377 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

or  gained  any  decisive  advantage.  And  when 
morning  came  again  neither  side  was  willing  to 
renew  the  contest,  and  neither  would  retire  from 
the  field. 

For  a  whole  day  the  two  armies  lay  facing 
each  other  in  grim  defiance,  each  ready  to  receive 
the  other  should  it  attack,  but  neither  venturing 
to  make  the  assault. 

After  twenty-four  hours  of  defiant  waiting, 
Lee  slowly  retired  to  the  Potomac,  while  Mc- 
Clellan  lay  still,  not  venturing  to  follow  his  adver- 
sary. Lee  crossed  unmolested  into  Virginia  and 
took  up  a  position  within  easy  striking  distance, 
but  his  adversary  made  no  attempt  to  strike. 
McClellan  presently  advanced  and  stretched  his 
great  army  along  the  Potomac.  But  he  assumed 
an  attitude  of  defence,  calling  insistently  for  rein- 
forcements, though  his  army  outnumbered  Lee's 
about  two  to  one. 

He  had  succeeded  in  checking  Lee's  invasion 
of  the  North  and  turning  it  back.  He  was  con- 
tent with  that,  and  in  spite  of  President  Lincoln's 
urgency  he  refused  to  do  more,  till  at  last  Gen- 
eral Burnside  was  ordered  to  assume  command 
in  his  stead, 

378 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

It  was  confidently  expected  both  at  the  North 
and  at  the  South,  after  Lee's  withdrawal  to 
Virginia,  that  as  soon  as  his  army  should  be 
rested,  he  would  again  take  the  offensive,  assail 
McClellan  at  some  point,  and  attempt  a  new 
march  northward.  This  expectation  was  strength- 
ened when  Stuart,  early  in  October,  plunged 
across  the  river  with  his  cavalry,  galloped  over 
the  country,  penetrated  into  Pennsylvania,  and 
saucily  rode  entirely  round  McClellan's  army, 
just  as  he  had  done  a  few  months  before  at  Rich- 
mond, in  preparation  for  Lee's  seven  days'  battle. 


379 


XXX 

THE  LAST  STRAW 

WHEN    the   news   came  to   Baillie   and 
Agatha  that  Lee  and   McClellan  had 
met  in  a  great  battle,  and  that  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  had  retraced  its  steps  across 
the  Potomac,  both  lost  heart  a  little. 

But  Baillie  was  now  regaining  strength  at  a 
surprising  rate,  and  his  eagerness  to  carry  out 
Agatha's  plan  of  escape,  by  way  of  England, 
Nassau,  and  a  blockaded  Southern  port,  became 
importunate. 

Yielding  to  it,  early  in  October,  Agatha  hur- 
riedly made  her  final  preparations.  Through  her 
friend  in  New  York  she  engaged  passage  for  her- 
self, Baillie,  and  Sam,  on  a  Cunard  steamer  ap- 
pointed to  sail  on  the  i5th  of  the  month.  She 
made  all  necessary  arrangements  for  the  sick 
French  gentleman,  his  French  nurse,  and  his 
negro  valet  to  make  the  journey  to  New  York  on 
380 


the  1 4th,  in  order  that  they  might  sail  the  next 
morning. 

But  a  few  days  before  the  time  set  for  their 
departure  a  great  excitement  arose  in  the  town 
where  Baillie  had  so  long  lain  ill.  The  Con- 
federates were  coming  again ;  they  had  destroyed 
McClellan  in  a  great  battle,  current  rumour  re- 
ported, and  were  now  marching  upon  Washington 
unopposed.  So  the  rumours  ran. 

Later  tidings  corrected  all  this  to  some  extent. 
It  was  learned  that  there  had  been  no  battle  as 
yet,  and  that  the  invading  force  was  only  the 
vanguard  of  Lee's  advance. 

"  I  think  I  understand  what  it  means,"  said 
Agatha,  who  had  followed  Stuart's  operations 
in  the  past  with  close  attention,  learning  to  appre- 
ciate his  methods.  "  This  is  simply  one  of  Gen- 
eral Stuart's  splendidly  audacious  raids.  He  rode 
around  McClellan  at  Richmond,  you  remember; 
he  rode  around  Pope,  and  captured  his  baggage, 
and  his  uniform,  and  all  his  mules  at  Manassas 
two  months  ago.  I  suspect  that  he  is  simply 
riding  around  McClellan  again  in  search  of  forage 
and  stores  and  glory." 

"  That  is  probably  what  the  movement  means," 

381 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

answered  Baillie,  "  though  it  may  be  made  in 
preparation  for  another  advance  of  the  whole 
army,  just  as  each  of  his  former  exploits  was.  In 
either  case,  if  he  comes  this  way  it  will  answer 
our  purpose.  I  shall  escape  with  him.  If  it 
is  only  a  cavalry  raid,  of  course  Stuart  will  have 
to  force  his  way  back  through  or  over  whatever 
obstacles  McClellan  may  throw  in  his  path,  and 
in  that  case  there  will  be  a  continual  running 
fight  with  no  secure  rear  for  you  to  take  shelter 
with.  Of  course,  if  the  whole  army  advances,  a 
secure  way  will  be  open,  but  if  only  the  cavalry 
come,  there  will  be  no  line  of  communication. 
In  that  case  it  will  be  necessary  for  you  to  remain 
here,  or  rather  go  on  to  New  York  and  sail  for 
Liverpool  as  we  have  both  intended." 

"  You  are  forgetful,  Captain  Pegram.  I  have 
ridden  with  General  Stuart  before,  and  as  to 
placing  myself  under  fire,  I  think  you  know  I 
am  not  without  experience.  No.  If  General 
Stuart  comes  this  way,  I  shall  ask  him  for  a 
horse  and  play  outrider  to  the  ambulance  in  which 
you  are  to  travel." 

"  But,  Agatha !  "  he  pleaded,  "  I  am  unwilling 
to  have  you  expose  yourself  thus  needlessly. 
382 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Think  of  the  danger  and  the  hardship,  and  think 
too  of  the  discomfort  you  must  suffer  as  a  solitary 
woman  in  company  with  a  horde  of  rough-riding 
cavalrymen !  " 

"  Hush !  I  will  not  hear  one  word  even  in 
suspicion  of  our  Virginia  cavaliers.  I  know  those 
superb  fellows,  and  I  trust  them.  They  may  be 
rough  as  riders,  and  they  are  certainly  rough  fel- 
lows for  the  enemy  to  encounter,  but  they  are 
gallant  gentlemen;  they  are  as  gentle  as  only 
giants  of  courage  can  be,  in  their  attitude  toward 
a  defenceless  woman.  If  the  opportunity  comes, 
I  shall  certainly  ride  with  them." 

At  that  moment  there  was  a  scurrying  in  the 
streets,  a  hurried  closing  of  the  little  shops,  and  a 
scampering  of  juvenile  chronic  offenders  to  points 
of  secure  observation. 

A  minute  or  two  later  some  gray-clad  regi- 
ments of  cavalry  trotted  into  the  town,  taking 
temporary  possession  of  it.  They  created  no 
more  of  disorder,  and  made  far  less  noise  than  a 
Sunday-school  picnic  might  have  done.  Not  a 
man  of  them  was  permitted  to  quit  his  place  in 
the  ranks  even  for  a  single  moment,  for  Stuart 

383 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

had  given  strict  orders,  and  his  lieutenants  en- 
forced them  relentlessly. 

There  were  very  valuable  commissary  and  ord- 
nance stores  belonging  to  the  United  States 
government  in  the  town,  and  the  advance  squad- 
ron of  the  cavalry  quietly  took  possession  of 
these  military  supplies,  quickly  loading  them  into 
wagons,  but  touching  no  single  cent's  worth  of 
private  property  of  any  kind,  and  molesting  no 
citizen.  So  the  orders  ran. 

Half  an  hour  sufficed  for  this  work,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  the  column  moved  out  of 
the  town  in  silence  and  good  order. 

Captain  Baillie  Pegram  accompanied  it  in  an 
ambulance,  with  Sam  riding  at  its  tail,  and 
Agatha,  mounted  upon  a  stout  and  war-seasoned 
cavalry  horse,  preceding  the  vehicle. 

At  nightfall  the  detachment  joined  the  main 
column,  and  there  was  a  brief  pause  for  supper. 
Agatha,  in  her  capacity  of  nurse,  questioned 
Baillie  closely  as  to  his  condition,  and  found  that 
he  had  seemingly  taken  no  harm  from  excite- 
ment or  weariness.  When  she  had  satisfied  her- 
self on  that  point,  she  ventured  to  tell  him  that  his 
own  battery  lay  around  the  ambulance.  He 

384 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

promptly  sat  up  and  asked  to  see  his  subalterns 
and  certain  of  his  men. 

"  You  may  see  a  few  of  them,"  answered  his 
nurse,  "  if  you  will  receive  them  lying  down.  If 
you  insist  upon  sitting  up,  I'll  not  permit  a  single 
one  of  them  even  to  grasp  your  hand." 

He  yielded  to  her  authority,  and  during  the 
remainder  of  the  brief  halting  time,  there  was  a 
cheering  reunion  of  comrades  and  a  hasty  inter- 
change of  personal  news  between  men  who  loved 
each  other  as  only  those  men  do  who  have  stood 
together  under  an  enemy's  fire  and  together 
endured  the  hardships  of  campaigning. 

The  enemy's  cavalry  was  by  this  time  approach- 
ing in  considerable  force,  and  Stuart,  whose  plan 
did  not  include  any  purpose  of  unnecessary  fight- 
ing, set  his  column  in  motion  again.  But  he  did 
not  take  the  line  of  march  which  he  had  been  fol- 
lowing all  day.  That  had  been  intended  as  a 
blind.  By  threatening  several  points  in  directions 
quite  other  than  the  one  he  meant  to  take,  he  had 
accomplished  two  important  purposes.  He  had 
gained  time  for  all  his  scattered  detachments  to 
rejoin  the  column,  and  he  had  compelled  the 

385 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

enemy  to  scatter  his  forces  in  many  directions 
for  the  defence  of  the  threatened  points. 

Having  thus  shaken  off  the  greater  part  of  the 
force  pursuing  him,  he  began  his  march  that  night 
in  such  a  direction  as  to  suggest  that  he  meant 
to  return  if  possible  by  the  route  by  which  he  had 
come.  For  this  his  enemy  was  of  course  pre- 
pared. As  soon  as  the  cavalry  forces  that  were 
observing  his  movement  discovered  what  they 
took  to  be  his  purpose,  they  withdrew  for  a  space 
and  planted  themselves  across  his  pathway.  In- 
fantry and  artillery  forces  were  hurried  forward 
in  support,  and  the  enemy  confidently  believed 
that  at  last  the  wily  cavalier  was  securely 
entrapped. 

To  encourage  this  mistaken  belief,  Stuart  threw 
forward  a  small  force  of  men  armed  with  car- 
bines, and  instructed  them  to  maintain  a  scat- 
tering fire  upon  the  enemy's  pickets  during  the 
night  as  if  feeling  of  the  position  in  preparation 
for  an  attempt  to  break  through  it  on  the  morrow. 

No  sooner  was  this  disposition  made  than  the 
main  body  of  the  Confederates  was  turned  into 
the  by-roads  that  led  toward  the  Potomac  at  a 

386 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

point  far  east  of  McClellan's  position  and  farther 
down  the  river. 

By  a  rapid  march  it  reached  the  river  at  day- 
light and  crossed  it  by  sunrise.  In  the  meanwhile, 
just  before  the  dawn,  the  detachment  which  had 
been  left  behind  to  maintain  a  show  of  intended 
battle  during-  the  night,  quietly  withdrew,  and 
rode  at  a  gallop  to  rejoin  the  escaping  column. 
The  enemy  did  not  discover  their  withdrawal 
until  sunrise,  by  which  time  they  were  many 
miles  away,  galloping  toward  the  river,  which  they 
crossed  without  molestation. 

It  was  not  until  the  column  halted  in  Virginia 
for  a  breakfast  that  might  be  taken  in  security, 
that  Stuart  met  Baillie  and  Agatha  in  person. 
He  insisted  upon  hearing  the  whole  story,  even 
making  Sam  take  part  in  its  telling.  At  parting 
he  sought  a  word  apart  with  Agatha,  and  said 
to  her: 

"  I  suppose  you  and  Captain  Pegram  have  quite 
ceased  to  be  '  almost  strangers  '  by  this  time." 

The  girl  flushed  crimson,  but  managed  to 
answer : 

"  No,  General.    I  have  simply  been  his  nurse, 

387 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

you  know,  and  —  and  —  well,  he  has  been  very 
ill." 

"  Nevertheless,"  answered  the  cavalier,  "  I'll 
court-martial  him  when  he  returns  to  duty,  if  I 
hear  no  better  report  than  that  of  his  conduct." 

This  bit  of  playfulness  on  Stuart's  part  had 
the  effect  of  making  Agatha  exceedingly  uncom- 
fortable in  her  mind.  She  had  so  long  been 
caring  for  Baillie  as  a  man  ill  nigh  unto  death, 
that  she  had  ceased  to  think  of  conventionalities 
in  connection  with  her  relations  to  him.  But 
Stuart's  jest  reminded  her  that  others  might  not 
be  equally  forgetful,  especially  now  that  her 
patient  was  rapidly  regaining  his  strength. 

"  My  work  is  done,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  and 
I  must  no  longer  intrude  myself  upon  Captain 
Pegram  or  his  affairs.  As  soon  as  he  can  be 
sent  off  to  Warlock  in  Sam's  care,  I  must  bid 
him  a  final  adieu  and  go  back  to  my  loneliness  at 
Willoughby.  After  all,  I  shall  have  enough  to 
do  there,  caring  for  the  poor  negroes  and  manag- 
ing the  plantation  so  that  it  shall  yield  enough  for 
them  to  live  upon.  I  wonder  if  everything  has 
fallen  into  complete  neglect  there  during  my 
absence?  Now  that  Chummie  has  gone  to  the 

388 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

angels,  I  am  needed  there.  And  besides  I  must 
look  after  my  underground  railroad  affairs.  I 
wonder  if  the  line  is  in  good  working  order,  and 
if  it  is  carrying  as  much  freight  as  it  ought." 

She  realised,  too,  now  that  the  parting  was 
drawing  near,  how  much  Baillie  Pegram's  pres- 
ence had  come  to  mean  to  her,  how  necessary  a 
part  of  her  life  he  had  become,  and  how  barren 
and  desolate  that  life  must  be  when  they  two 
should  have  spoken  a  final  good-bye.  For  during 
her  period  of  nursing,  he  and  she  had  come  to  be 
the  best  of  comrades,  and  at  such  times  as  his 
condition  had  permitted,  they  had  fallen  into 
habits  of  intimate  converse.  Their  talks,  it  is 
true,  had  never  been  personal  in  character.  They 
had  talked  of  books  and  travel  and  life; 
now  and  then  they  had  discussed  philosophy, 
ethics,  aesthetics,  and  a  hundred  other  subjects 
external  to  themselves.  But  although  their  con- 
verse had  not  been  personal  in  character,  it  had 
taught  each  to  know  the  impulses,  the  sentiments, 
and  the  convictions  of  the  other  in  a  degree  that 
purely  personal  intercourse  never  could  have 
done. 

Agatha  understood  all  this  now,  as  she  had  not 

389 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

understood  it  before,  and  the  understanding  sad- 
dened her.  For  she  was  resolutely  determined 
now  to  take  herself  as  completely  out  of  this  man's 
life  as  if  she  had  never  known  him  at  all.  She 
proudly  realised  her  duty,  and  she  would  not 
flinch  from  its  doing. 

"  Did  I  not  break  off  the  acquaintance  at  that 
Christmas-time  nearly  two  years  ago?"  she 
argued  with  herself.  "  Was  I  not  strong  and 
resolute,  the  moment  I  learned  what  my  duty 
was?  Why  then  should  I  not  do  the  same 
again  ?  " 

She  let  her  thoughts  wander  at  will.  "  It  is 
true  there  was  war  between  us  then,  and  there  is 
none  now.  There  never  has  been  since  Chummie 
talked  with  me  that  last  night  of  his  life.  And 
it  seems  harder  now  in  other  ways.  Since  I  have 
come  to  know  Captain  Pegram  so  well,  and 
especially  since  I  have  taken  care  of  him  in  a 
time  of  helplessness,  it  seems  harder  to  send  him 
away  and  tell  him  that  we  are  mere  acquaintances, 
not  likely  to  see  much  of  each  other  hereafter." 

Then  she  generalised  in  this  fashion : 

"Life  is  very  hard  on  women  in  any  case  — 
much  harder  than  it  is  on  men,  in  every  way. 

39° 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

And  the  worst  of  it  is  that  men  do  not  want  it 
to  be  so,  and  nothing  they  can  do  can  prevent. 
Even  in  that  restriction  of  our  lives  which  petty 
conventionality  forces  upon  us,  men  cannot  come 
to  our  relief.  It  is  women  who  hold  women  to 
such  restrictions.  Men  would  laugh  them  away,  if 
we  would  let  them,  but  we  never  will.  We  hold 
each  other  to  the  rigidest  standards  of  propriety, 
even  when  propriety  makes  needless  and  foolish 
exactions  of  us.  Men  never  do  that.  They  want 
us  to  be  innocently  as  free  as  they  are,  but  we 
are  afraid  to  be  so.  We  are  afraid  of  other 
women.  Even  Chummie  could  not  succeed  in  set- 
ting me  free.  I  was  too  much  afraid  of  other 
women's  opinions,  too  much  a  slave  to  other 
women's  standards  to  accept  the  freedom  he 
tried  so  hard  to  force  upon  me. 

"  No,  that  isn't  just  it.  I  am  not  really  afraid 
of  other  women's  opinions;  I  am  afraid  of  my 
own.  I  have  laughed  at  and  defied  other  women's 
standards,  many  a  time,  and  I  shall  go  on  doing  so 
to  the  end,  whenever  I  am  convinced  that  their 
opinions  are  unsound  and  their  standards  wrong. 
I  did  that  when  I  went  North  to  find  and  rescue 
Captain  Pegram.  I  knew  perfectly  that  my  good 

391 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

aunts  would  look  upon  my  conduct  with  positive 
horror,  and  that  the  least  any  other  woman  of 
my  acquaintance  would  say  about  my  conduct 
would  be  '  How  could  she  ?  '  in  tones  that  meant 
all  that  is  possible  of  condemnation.  But  I  did 
not  care  for  all  that,  and  I  do  not  care  for  it  now, 
because  I  know  that  what  I  did  was  right,  and 
that  Chummie  would  have  said  so  if  he  had  lived 
till  now.  The  trouble  is  that  in  the  main  I  share 
those  opinions  of  other  women  which  so  restrict 
the  liberty  of  all  women.  I  am  afraid  of  those 
opinions  because  they  are  my  own  as  well  as 
others' ;  I  submit  myself  to  those  standards  of 
feminine  conduct  because  I  share  the  opinion 
that  sets  them  up  and  enforces  obedience  to  them." 
At  this  point  Agatha  "  shied  "  away  from  the 
thought  that  had  in  fact  suggested  all  this  intro- 
spective meditation.  She  would  not  admit,  even 
to  herself,  that  she  was  strongly  moved  by  a  per- 
fectly natural  impulse,  to  bridge  the  chasm  that 
lay  between  her  and  Baillie  Pegram,  to  remind 
him  of  what  he  had  said  to  her  that  far-away 
morning  on  the  picket-line  at  Fairfax  Court- 
house, and  so  give  him  opportunity  to  say  it 
again.  When  that  thought  intruded  itself  upon 

392 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

her,  she  was  shocked  and  startled  by  it.  It 
seemed  to  her  immodest  in  an  extreme  degree, 
unwomanly,  almost  atrocious.  She  would  not 
harbour  it  for  a  moment.  She  cast  it  out  of  her 
mind,  and  was  bitterly  resentful  against  herself 
for  having  permitted  it  even  to  suggest  itself. 

"  I  must  act  at  once,"  she  resolved,  when  the 
day's  march  was  resumed.  "  I  must  flee  from 
the  devil  of  this  temptation.  If  Captain  Pegram 
suffers  no  relapse  to-day,  I  will  bid  him  good- 
bye in  the  morning.  No,  I  will  not  bid  him  good- 
bye. That  would  be  too  —  well,  it  would  be 
almost  like  acting  upon  that  hideous  thought.  I 
shall  simply  go  without  saying  a  word  to  him. 
Perhaps  I  shall  leave  a  little  note  for  him,  simply 
telling  him  that  I  am  going  to  look  after  affairs 
at  Willoughby,  as  he  no  longer  needs  his  French 
nurse.  I'll  be  very  careful,  in  writing  it,  not  to 
—  not  to  make  it  more  than  coldly  courteous 
and  friendly." 

It  was  nearly  nightfall  when  the  cavalcade 
rejoined  the  main  body  of  Lee's  army.  Agatha 
made  haste  to  secure  a  careful  examination  of 
Baillie  by  a  staff  surgeon.  He  reported  that  the 
convalescent  man  had  taken  no  harm  from  the 

393 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

journey,  but  was  so  far  recovered  that  a  month's 
rest  would  render  him  fit  for  duty  again.  As- 
sured of  this,  Agatha  sent  for  Sam  and  minutely 
instructed  him  as  to  the  care  of  his  master  on  the 
homeward  journey  which,  she  had  arranged,  was 
to  begin  immediately,  with  the  assistance  of  an 
ambulance  for  a  part  of  the  way. 

Then,  early  the  next  morning,  she  went  to 
Stuart,  and  preferred  a  request.  In  the  present 
disturbed  state  of  things  she  hesitated  to  make 
the  journey  to  Willoughby  alone,  and  she  asked 
for  an  escort  for  a  day. 

Stuart  looked  at  her  with  a  face  far  sadder 
than  his  was  accustomed  to  be,  and  said : 

"  I  have  very  bad  news  for  you,  Miss  Agatha. 
You  cannot  go  to  Willoughby  —  for  there  is  no 
Willoughby.  That  was  one  of  the  many  planta- 
tions ravaged  by  Pope  while  he  held  Northern 
Virginia.  The  house  and  all  the  barns  were 
burned,  and  every  living  animal  for  a  score  of 
miles  around  was  killed.  Even  if  Willoughby 
had  been  spared,  it  would  not  do  for  you  to  live 
there  now.  The  armies  will  move  to  new  posi- 
tions presently,  —  nobody  knows  where,  —  and 
this  northern  part  of  Virginia  will  be  no  fit  place 

394 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

for  women  and  children  to  live  in  till  the  war  is 
over." 

The  girl  sat  pale  and  speechless,  as  she  listened. 
It  was  as  if  she  had  received  a  blow  in  the  face. 
She  had  bravely  met  danger  and  sorrow  and  hard- 
ship, and  had  endured  them  all  with  heroic  reso- 
lution. She  seemed  now  quite  unable  to  endure 
this  new  trial  of  her  courage.  She  made  no 
outcry  and  shed  no  tears.  She  simply  sat  there 
before  the  headquarters  camp-fire,  statue-like  in 
her  pallor  and  her  immobility.  Stuart  gently  laid 
his  hand  upon  her  head,  and  sought  to  soothe  her 
with  a  voice  that  was  always  gentle  when  he  spoke 
to  a  woman. 

Agatha  seemed  not  to  know  what  he  was 
doing.  She  made  no  response  to  his  words,  and 
as  he  looked  into  her  face  the  light  went  out 
of  her  great  brown  eyes. 

A  moment  later  she  reeled,  and  Stuart  caught 
her  in  his  brawny  arms. 

"  Bring  a  surgeon  quick,"  he  commanded. 

Then  he  gently  laid  the  seemingly  lifeless  form 
upon  a  blanket  which  the  sentinel  spread  upon 
the  ground. 

395 


XXXI 

AT   WARLOCK  AND   AT  THE   OAKS 

FOR  the  first  time  in  her  life  Agatha 
Ronald  was  ill.  For  the  first  time  her 
strength  had  given  way  under  prolonged 
strain.  The  surgeon  who  had  been  summoned  to 
attend  her  ordered  that  she  should  be  sent  imme- 
diately to  some  place  in  rear  of  the  army's  exposed 
position,  where  she  could  have  complete  rest. 

Unfortunately  there  was  no  such  place  within 
a  day's  journey  —  no  place  which  might  not  at 
any  hour  become  the  scene  of  battle  or  at  the  least 
of  massive  manoeuvring.  Nowhere  short  of 
Charlottesville  was  there  a  secure  resting-place 
for  the  overwrought  nerves  that  had  so  stoutly 
held  their  own  as  long  as  their  ministering 
strength  was  needed  in  the  service  of  others. 

While  this  matter  was  still  under  perplexed 
discussion,  Marshall  Pollard  made  his  timely 
appearance.  Hearing  of  the  arrival  of  Baillie 

396 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

and  Agatha  with  Stuart's  returning  column,  he 
had  ridden  forward  from  his  camp  to  meet  and 
greet  his  friends.  He  had  passed  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  with  the  master  of  Warlock,  who  was 
now  permitted  to  sit  up  most  of  the  time,  and 
who  was  to  start  almost  immediately  on  his 
homeward  journey.  While  they  two  were  talking 
together,  word  reached  Sam's  ears  that  his  "  Mis' 
Agatha  "  had  fallen  ill  at  General  Stuart's  camp- 
fire.  Marshall  went  with  him  immediately  to 
her,  under  an  injunction  from  Baillie  to  "  get 
her  out  of  this,  Marshall,  if  you  can.  Tell  her 
not  to  mind  me,  but  to  take  care  of  herself.  Tell 
her  I  shall  be  ready  for  duty  almost  immediately 
—  tell  her  I'm  on  duty  —  tell  her  anything  and 
everything  that  will  persuade  her  to  let  you  take 
her  to  a  place  of  safety." 

Marshall  was  quick  to  see  the  necessity  of 
prompt  action,  and  Agatha  was  far  too  ill  to 
oppose  his  plans  in  any  way.  Stuart  had  ordered 
a  little  tent  stretched  for  her,  and  here  it  was 
decided  she  should  remain  until  Captain  Pollard 
could  arrange  for  her  removal. 

He  first  secured  a  week's  leave  of  absence  for 
himself.  While  arranging  that,  he  had  half  a 

397 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

dozen  of  his  men  scouring  the  country  round 
about  in  search  of  a  carriage.  One  was  found 
which  had  escaped  destruction  during  the  days 
of  Pope's  unsparing  ravaging.  It  was  an  old- 
fashioned  vehicle  of  family  state,  swung  high 
upon  C  springs  and  stoutly  built  for  service. 

In  this  conveyance,  Agatha,  still  dazed  and 
unresisting,  was  started  on  her  homeward  jour- 
ney early  the  next  morning.  One  of  Pollard's 
battery  men  acted  as  driver,  while  Pollard  himself 
rode  by  the  side  of  the  carriage. 

About  midnight  the  party  reached  Charlottes- 
ville,  where  tender,  loving  hands  took  charge 
of  Agatha  for  the  night. 

The  journey  had  rather  rested  than  wearied 
her,  and  the  physician  who  had  been  summoned  to 
attend  her  found  her  free  from  all  positive  ill- 
ness. 

"  She  has  need  of  nothing  now  but  rest  and 
quiet,"  he  said. 

When  Marshall  called  upon  her  in  the  morning, 
he  found  the  young  woman's  mind  clear  again, 
and  her  nerves  under  control. 

"  Tell  me  of  Captain  Pegram,"  she  eagerly 
demanded,  as  soon  as  she  had  briefly  expressed 

398 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

her  gratitude  to  Pollard  for  the  care  he  was  tak- 
ing for  her  comfort. 

With  that  gentle  smile  which  always  so  in- 
vited affection,  Marshall  reassured  her  concern- 
ing her  late  patient. 

"  He  is  in  Sam's  excellent  hands,  and  on  his 
way  to  the  rear  by  this  time.  He  will  be  on  duty 
again  pretty  soon.  Indeed,  if  the  army  were  sta- 
tioned anywhere  in  particular  just  now  he 
wouldn't  go  away  from  it  at  all.  He  would  take 
command  of  his  battery  at  once,  merely  reporting 
himself  on  the  sick-list  for  a  week  or  two.  As  it 
is  he  must  go  away  for  a  little  while.  Now  let 
us  talk  about  yourself.  I  have  a  week's  leave, 
granted  for  the  express  purpose  of  letting  me 
do  what  is  best  for  you.  Tell  me  what  is  best 
—  or  rather  —  it's  the  same  thing  —  what  is 
most  to  your  liking?  Will  you  stay  here,  or  —  " 

"  If  I  may,"  she  answered,  quickly,  "  I  want 
to  go  home  —  to  The  Oaks,  I  mean,  for  that  is 
the  only  home  I  have  in  all  the  world  now.  Please 
take  me  there." 

"  It  would  be  a  very  long  journey  by  carriage," 
he  said,  as  if  talking  to  himself,  "but  we  can 

399 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

make  the  trip  by  rail  if  you  are  strong  enough  to 
stand  it." 

It  was  necessary  in  those  days  to  think  of  a 
railway  journey  as  a  formidable  undertaking  for 
any  but  the  strongest  persons.  There  were  no 
such  things  known  then  as  sleeping-cars,  or 
drawing-room  cars.  The  railroads  were  badly 
built,  with  the  rails  spiked  down  to  loose  ties,  and 
in  no  way  joined  together  at  their  ends.  The  cars 
were  coupled  together  by  chain  links,  and  oper- 
ated with  hand-brakes,  so  that  when  a  train  was 
stopping,  there  was  a  jolting  which  in  our  day 
would  be  deemed  intolerable.  In  Virginia  at  that 
time  there  was  the  additional  discomfort  of  lam- 
inated iron  rails,  and  cars  badly  out  of  repair. 

But  Agatha's  courage  had  come  back  to  her 
now,  and  she  was  eager  to  complete  her  journey 
as  speedily  as  possible.  So  Marshall  sent  the  car- 
riage back  to  its  owner,  and  with  Agatha,  took 
the  first  train  for  Lynchburg,  whence  another 
railroad  would  convey  them  to  their  destination. 

There  was  very  little  of  conversation  between 

the  two  as  they  travelled,  for  the  jarring  and  the 

rattle  of  the  disjointed  train,  as  it  jolted  over  its 

intolerably  ill-kept  road-bed,  made  talking  diffi- 

400 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

cult  and  hearing  well-nigh  impossible.  But  dur- 
ing the  long  pauses  at  the  stations  Agatha  related 
the  story  of  her  adventures,  with  something  of 
that  relish  which  one  always  feels  in  telling  of 
experiences  past,  which  were  anything  but  relish- 
ful  at  the  time  of  their  occurrence. 

Better  still,  the  two  friends  talked  much  of 
Baillie  Pegram,  a  subject  that  enlisted  the  sym- 
pathetic interest  of  both,  and  drew  them  closer 
than  ever  together  as  friends. 

The  good  ladies  of  The  Oaks  welcomed  Agatha 
with  all  of  tenderness  that  their  dignity  would 
permit.  They  deeply  disapproved  of  all  that  she 
had  done,  of  course,  but  they  reflected  that  she 
had  suffered  much,  and  as  she  was  not  now 
strong  they  forebore  to  emphasise  by  words  of 
censure  the  condemnation  which  they  could  not 
avoid  manifesting  in  their  manner.  Agatha  did 
not  much  mind  their  disapproval.  This  was  one 
of  the  cases  in  which,  feeling  that  her  conduct 
had  been  altogether  right,  she  was  not  troubled 
by  the  contrary  opinions  of  others.  Moreover  she 
had  other  subjects  to  think  about. 

Captain  Pollard  went  at  once  to  Warlock,  after 
delivering  his  charge  into  her  aunts'  hands,  and 

4OI 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

on  the  next  day,  when  he  visited  The  Oaks  to  ask 
concerning  her,  he  reported  that  the  master  of 
Warlock  had  reached  home  and  was  still  rapidly 
gaining  strength. 

This  news  gave  Agatha  a  little  shock.  She 
had  intended,  as  we  know,  to  take  herself  out  of 
Captain  Pegram's  life  as  quickly  and  as  com- 
pletely as  possible,  and  now  circumstances  had 
forced  her  to  place  herself  near  to  him  again.  She 
knew  that  as  soon  as  he  should  be  able  to  ride, 
ordinary  courtesy  would  compel  him  to  visit  her, 
and  —  well,  she  did  not  want  him  to  do  that. 
She  felt  herself  in  the  position  of  a  woman  who 
has  purposely  placed  herself  in  the  way  of  inviting 
attentions,  or  at  least  has  suffered  herself  to  be 
so  placed. 

She  had  done  nothing  of  the  kind,  of  course. 
Indeed,  she  had  had  no  choice  in  the  matter,  but 
the  very  thought  that  Baillie  Pegram  might  so 
interpret  her  course,  distressed  her  greatly,  in 
her  still  nerve-tortured  condition.  She  cared 
nothing  whatever  for  what  others,  including  her 
aunts,  might  think  of  the  matter,  but  the  thought 
that  Baillie  Pegram  might  misunderstand  was 
intolerable. 
4O2 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Her  aunts  added  to  her  embarrassment  by 
adopting  a  course  which  plainly  showed  that  they 
entertained  a  fear  identical  with  her  own.  They 
sent  a  note  to  Warlock  every  day,  inquiring  con- 
cerning the  health  of  that  plantation's  master. 
They  made  these  notes  as  coldly  formal  as  stilted 
rhetoric  could  contrive,  and  they  were  at  pains  to 
read  the  missives  to  Agatha  before  sending  them. 

"  Why  do  you  do  that?  "  she  asked,  when  the 
second  day's  note  was  read.  There  was  almost 
a  querulous  tone  in  her  protest. 

"  Why,  it  seems  to  us  proper,  dear ;  we  want 
you  to  be  assured  that  we  make  no  mention  of 
your  presence  here,  but  take  the  utmost  possible 
pains  to  show  Captain  Pegram  how  entirely  you 
are  —  " 

At  that  point  Agatha  rose  to  her  feet  and 
looked  indignantly  at  her  relatives.  For  a  mo- 
ment there  was  danger  of  an  outbreak  of  offended 
pride,  but  by  an  effort  the  girl  controlled  herself 
and  said,  simply : 

"  Please  don't  do  it  any  more.  I  shall  feel  hurt 
if  you  offer  again  to  read  to  me  anything  you 
may  have  written.  If  you  will  excuse  me  I 

403 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

think  I  will  go  to  my  room  now.  I  am  not  strong 
to-day." 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  good  ladies  to  protest 
that  they  "  never  could  understand  Agatha ;  "  but 
on  this  occasion  they  understood  her  sufficiently 
to  know  that  they  had  trodden  very  near  a  danger- 
line  which  they  were  more  than  unwilling  to 
cross. 

Baillie  Pegram  in  his  turn  was  by  no  means 
minded  to  submit  to  the  manifest  purpose  of  The 
Oaks  ladies  that  he  should  hear  nothing  about 
Agatha,  beyond  what  Marshall  Pollard  had  re- 
ported to  him  during  the  two  days  of  his  stay 
at  Warlock.  Marshall  had  gone' now,  and  Baillie 
wrote  in  response  to  the  second  of  the  notes : 

"  I  am  getting  well  quite  as  rapidly  as  my  best 
friends  could  wish.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
occasion  for  uneasiness  about  me.  I  am  even 
permitted  to  ride  horseback  a  little.  But  I  am 
exceedingly  anxious  for  tidings  of  Miss  Agatha, 
whom  you  have  not  mentioned  in  either  of  your 
notes.  Will  you  not  send  me  word  concerning 
her,  or  better  still,  if  she  is  well  enough  to  write, 
will  you  not  ask  her  to  send  me  a  few  lines? 
My  gratitude  to  her  for  all  that  she  has  done 
404 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

for  me  is  very  great,  and  so  is  my  anxiety  to 
know  that  she  is  recovering  from  the  painful 
illness  which  was  caused  by  her  generous  self- 
sacrifice  in  my  behalf." 

As  Agatha  had  asked  her  aunts  not  to  read  to 
her  their  letters  to  the  master  of  Warlock,  those 
ladies  chose  to  interpret  her  request  as  including 
his  letter  to  them.  They  made  no  mention  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  written  to  make  inquiries  con- 
cerning her.  She  wondered  a  little  that  he  had 
not  done  so,  but  on  the  whole,  she  argued,  it  was 
better  so. 

Baillie  was  not  so  easily  pleased.  He  chafed 
when  the  next  note  came  from  The  Oaks,  bring- 
ing no  tidings  from  Agatha,  and  when  still  an- 
other of  like  character  followed  it,  he  grew 
uneasy,  lest  the  silence  might  mean  that  Agatha 
had  herself  forbidden  all  mention  of  her  in  letters 
from  The  Oaks. 

"  She  is  taking  that  method,  probably,"  he 
argued,  "  of  dismissing  me  again,  and  letting  me 
know  that  I  must  not  presume  upon  the  service 
she  has  done  me.  What  a  fool  I  am,  to  be  sure ! 
I  have  been  reckoning  upon  her  devotion  to  me 
in  my  illness  and  captivity  as  proof  that  what  I 

405 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

brutally  blurted  out  at  Fairfax  Court-house  was 
not  unwelcome  to  her  after  all.  With  her  quick 
feminine  perceptions,  she  has  discovered  how  I 
have  been  misinterpreting  her  duty  doing,  and 
she  wants  now  to  show  me  my  error  in  the  sim- 
plest way  possible." 

As  he  meditated,  the  soldier  impulse  in  him 
asserted  itself,  —  the  impulse  to  dare  the  worst  in 
the  hope  of  achieving  the  best. 

Acting  upon  that  impulse  he  immediately 
wrote  a  note  to  Agatha,  and  sent  it  by  Sam, 
with  orders  to  deliver  it  to  her  in  person,  if 
possible,  and  at  all  events  to  ask  for  an  answer 
and  fetch  it. 

In  his  note  he  told  Agatha  of  his  unanswered 
inquiries,  and  of  the  great  uneasiness  he  felt  con- 
cerning her  health.  Finally  he  begged  her  to 
relieve  his  anxiety  by  sending  a  line  in  reply. 


406 


XXXII 

IN  RIGHTEOUS    WRATH 

THE  grounds  about  The  Oaks  mansion 
were  much  more  extensive  than  was  cus- 
tomary on  Virginia  plantations.  The  late 
owner,  Agatha's  father,  had  cherished  the  forest 
growths  jealously,  permitting  no  tree  to  be  cut  that 
could  in  any  wise  be  preserved,  and  forbidding  the 
encroachment  of  the  lawns  immediately  about  the 
house  upon  the  wild  woodland  growths  that  bor- 
dered and  surrounded  them.  It  was  Agatha's 
delight  on  windy  autumn  days  to  wander  in  these 
woodlands,  and  on  this  morning  Sam  encountered 
her  quite  half  a  mile  from  the  house.  She  was 
hatless,  and  the  wind  was  taking  what  liberties 
it  pleased  with  her  thick-growing  hair,  while  she, 
having  turned  child  again  in  her  enjoyment  of 
the  brilliant,  gusty  morning,  was  wading  about  in 
the  depths  of  the  fallen  leaves,  delighting  her 
soul  with  their  rustling. 

407 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

Sam  delivered  his  note  and  she  read  it.  In- 
stantly the  child  spirit  in  her  took  flight  and  she 
became  the  strong,  resolute,  self-contained  young 
woman  that  she  had  learned  to  be  during  the 
storm  and  stress  period  of  her  recent  life.  Her 
sudden  access  of  dignity  did  not  spare  even  Sam. 
Like  an  officer  in  battle  issuing  his  orders,  she 
turned  to  the  negro  boy  and  said: 

"  Return  to  your  master  at  once.  Tell  him 
you  met  me  far  from  the  house.  Say  to  him 
that  I  am  almost  as  well  as  ever,  and  that  I  will 
answer  his  note  during  the  day.  There.  Go 
now,  and  deliver  the  message  as  I  have  given  it 
to  you.  Do  you  hear?" 

Sam's  face  grew  long,  as  he  turned  about,  and 
Agatha  caught  sight  of  it.  She  was  in  a  mighty 
rage,  but  not  with  Sam.  She  bethought  her  that 
the  boy  had  misunderstood,  to  the  injury  of  his 
feelings,  so  she  called  to  him,  and  added: 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  speak  sharply  to  you,  Sam. 
You  don't  deserve  any  but  kindly  words.  I  was 
thinking  of  something  else.  How  are  you  since 
you  got  back  to  Warlock,  and  tell  me  truly  how 
your  master  is." 

"  Thank  you,  Mis'  Agatha,"  answered  the 
408 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

boy,  his  face  all  smiles  again,  "  Mas'  Baillie  he's 
a-gittin'  as  lively  as  a  spring  chicken  what  don't 
mean  to  be  ketched.  He  rides  every  day  now, 
an'  don't  he  jes'  eat!  He'll  be  all  right  in  a 
week  or  two,  yo'  may  be  sure.  As  fer  Sam,  he 
ain't  never  nothin'  else  but  well,  specially  now 
dat  we  done  git  away  from  dem  Yankees  an' 
back  to  Warlock  ag'in !  " 

Nevertheless  Sam  grew  distinctly  melancholy 
as  he  rode  homeward,  repeating  his  message  time 
and  again  in  order  that  he  might  deliver  it  cor- 
rectly. The  message  seemed  to  him  unduly  curt, 
and  certainly  the  note  he  had  delivered  seemed 
somehow  to  have  angered  Agatha.  Sam  won- 
dered how  and  why,  and  he  grieved  over  the  cir- 
cumstance, too,  for  Sam  had  taken  the  liberty  of 
making  up  his  mind  that  Agatha  would  make  an 
ideal  mistress  at  Warlock,  and  that  the  master  of 
Warlock  was  planning  some  such  destiny  for  her. 
Her  message  and  her  manner  suggested  that  she 
resented  all  this,  and  that  his  master's  hopes, 
which  he  took  for  granted,  were  likely  to  be 
disappointed. 

Baillie  Pegram's  interpretation  of  the  message 

409 


The     Master     of    Warlock 

when  it  was  delivered  to  him  did  not  materially 
differ  from  that  which  Sam  had  put  upon  it. 

"  She  resents  the  liberty  I  have  taken,"  he 
thought,  "  in  writing  to  her  directly.  She  has 
forbidden  her  aunts  to  reply  to  my  inquiries 
made  through  them.  She  has  sought  in  that  way 
to  tell  me,  by  indirection,  that  the  old  family  war 
between  herself  and  me  still  endures ;  that  all  her 
suffering  and  sacrifice  in  ministering  to  me  was 
inspired  solely  by  a  sense  of  duty ;  that  she  wishes 
now  to  end  our  intimacy  as  she  did  two  years 
ago.  Clearly  that  is  the  state  of  the  case,  and  she 
is  naturally  angry  now  that  I  have  forced  an 
attention  upon  her  which  compels  her  to  tell  me 
directly  what  she  had  meant  me  to  infer.  What 
an  idiot  I  was  to  do  that !  " 

In  the  meanwhile  Agatha  had  walked  rapidly 
to  the  house.  At  the  beginning  of  her  journey 
she  indulged  her  indignation  freely.  She  re- 
hearsed all  the  bitingly  sarcastic  things  she  meant 
to  say  to  her  aunts,  all  the  defiance  she  intended 
to  hurl  at  their  helpless  heads.  But  as  she  spent 
her  superfluous  vitality  in  brisk  walking,  she 
recovered  her  self-control. 

"  I    will    not    scold,"    she    resolved.      "  That 
410 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

would  be  undignified.  I  will  be  calm  and  cour- 
teous, saying  as  little  as  may  be  necessary  to  let 
them  see  my  displeasure.  They  have  grievously 
compromised  my  dignity  by  what  they  have  done. 
I  must  not  sacrifice  what  remains  of  it  by  a  petu- 
lant outbreak.  They  have  treated  me  like  a  child 
in  pinafores,  who  must  be  restrained  lest  she  mis- 
behave. I  must  show  them  that  I  have  outgrown 
pinafores.  I  must  prove  myself  incapable  of 
childish  misbehaviour." 

Firm  in  this  determination,  she  entered  the 
house  with  Baillie  Pegram's  note  in  her  hand,  and 
upon  joining  her  aunts  before  the  library  fire,  she 
said  quite  calmly: 

"  I  have  a  note  from  Captain  Pegram,  who  has 
got  a  notion  into  his  head  that  I  am  seriously  ill, 
and  that  you  are  concealing  the  fact  from  his 
friendly  knowledge.  He  tells  me  he  has  twice 
asked  you  for  news  of  me,  and  you  have  made 
no  response.  Of  course  you  forgot  to  mention 
in  your  notes  that  I  am  quite  well  again." 

The  ladies  looked  at  each  other  with  troubled 
eyes.  Presently  one  of  them  spoke: 

"  No,  dear,  we  did  not  forget.  We  have  only 
been  mindful  of  proprieties  which  Mr.  Pegram 

411 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

seems  strangely  to  forget  or  ignore.  Under  the 
circumstances,  and  in  view  of  the  relations  be- 
tween the  Ronalds  and  the  Pegrams,  it  seemed  to 
us  rather  impertinent  in  him  to  send  messages  to 
you,  even  through  us.  We  intended  to  rebuke  his 
presumption  by  ignoring  the  messages.  Why,  he 
even  went  so  far  as  to  ask  us  to  let  you  write  to 
him  yourself." 

Agatha  received  all  this  in  silence,  controlling 
herself  with  difficulty.  It  was  not  until  a  full 
minute  after  her  aunt  had  ceased  to  speak  that 
she  said: 

"  Go  on,  please." 

"  There  would  seem  to  be  no  more  to  say ;  for 
surely  it  is  needless  to  comment  upon  Mr.  Pe- 
gram's  crowning  impertinence  in  writing  directly 
to  you." 

"  Go  on,  please.  Tell  me  all  about  it.  You 
see  I  don't  at  all  understand." 

By  this  time  the  good  dames  began  to  realise 
that  Agatha  was  either  very  angry  or  very  deeply 
hurt,  so  they  decided  to  soothe  and  placate  her. 
This  is  how  they  did  it. 

"  No,  dear,  I  suppose  you  do  not  understand. 
How  should  you,  with  such  bringing  up  as  your 
412 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

grandfather  gave  you?  Of  all  the  strange  per- 
versities —  " 

"  Stop !  "  cried  Agatha,  rising  from  her  chair 
with  a  look  upon  her  face  which  her  aunts  did  not 
understand  but  gravely  feared.  Their  last  spoken 
words  had  set  her  free  to  speak.  She  had  not 
dared  resent  their  criticism  of  Baillie  Pegram's 
conduct.  That  might  have  been  misinterpreted. 
But  the  reflection  upon  her  grandfather  was  a 
different  matter.  She  stood  there  livid  to  the 
lips  and  shaking  with  the  indignation  which  she 
was  struggling  to  suppress.  After  that  one  word, 
"  Stop !  "  she  remained  silent  for  a  space,  strug- 
gling to  restrain  the  angry  utterance  that  was 
surging  to  her  lips.  At  last,  speaking  in  a  con- 
strained voice,  she  said: 

"  I  will  not  hear  another  word.  Neither  you 
nor  any  other  human  being  is  worthy  to  speak  my 
grandfather's  name  except  with  reverence.  He 
was  great,  and  wise,  and  unspeakably  good.  He 
hated  lies  and  shams  and  false  conventionalities." 

Here  the  roused  tigress  in  Agatha  was  sharply 
restrained.  She  found  herself  about  to  indulge  in 
a  tirade,  and  that  she  was  resolved  not  on  any 

413 


The    Master    of    Warlock 

account  to  do.  Still  speaking  in  a  voice  of 
enforced  calm,  she  added : 

"  I  must  go  now  and  write  to  Captain  Pegram. 
I  shall  dine  with  the  Misses  Blair  at  The  Forest 
to-day." 

To  Baillie  she  wrote: 

"It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  feel  so  much  solicitude 
on  my  account.  But  it  is  needless,  as  I  am  quite 
well  again  and  growing  stronger  every  day.  I 
go  in  half  an  hour  to  dine  at  The  Forest,  where  I 
shall  remain  till  to-morrow.  After  that  I  shall 
go  to  Richmond  in  search  of  some  way  in  which 
I  may  be  of  service.  I  am  pleased  to  hear  through 
Sam  that  you  are  so  greatly  better.  Thank  you 
again  for  all  your  kindness  to  me,  and  good-bye." 

Having  despatched  this  note,  Agatha  donned 
her  hat  and  cloak  and  walked  out  of  the  house. 
Without  a  pause  she  passed  on  through  the 
grounds  and  along  the  road  to  the  plantation 
known  as  The  Forest. 

She  had  made  no  adieus  to  her  aunts.  "  To 
do  that,"  she  reflected,  "  I  should  have  to  tell  lies, 
or  act  them.  I  should  have  to  say  I  am  sorry  to 
leave  them,  and  I  am  not  sorry.  Oh,  Chummie! 
the  world  is  very  lonely  now  that  you  are  not  in 
414 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

it !  But  you  mustn't  grieve  in  heaven,  Chummie. 
It  will  not  be  for  long,  you  know,  and  while  I 
stay  here  I'm  going  to  try  harder  than  ever  to 
be  true  and  good  and  altogether  truthful,  as  you 
want  me  to  be,  and  when  I  go  to  join  you  I'll 
be  happy  enough  to  make  up  for  all  these  little 
troubles  here." 

At  that  moment  a  merry  gust  of  wind  blew  off 
her  headgear.  She  picked  it  up,  but  did  not 
replace  it  on  her  head.  She  liked  to  feel  the  crisp 
breezes  in  her  face.  She  even  indulged  the  fancy 
that  they  bore  caresses  to  her  from  Chummie. 


415 


XXXIII 

UNDER  RED  LEAVES 

AGATHA'S  note,  coming  after  her  curt 
message,  was  a  sore  puzzle  to  its  recipient. 
One  might  interpret  it  to  mean  anything 
or  nothing.  It  was  courteous  enough,  but  its 
courtesy  was  colourless  and  cold.  It  was  such  a 
note  as  might  have  been  addressed  to  the  veriest 
stranger.  There  was  nothing  in  it  to  reassure 
the  master  of  Warlock  as  to  Agatha's  view  of  his 
conduct,  nothing  to  allay  his  fear  that  she  had 
resented  his  inquiries  as  an  impertinence.  On 
the  contrary,  if  that  were  the  meaning  of  the 
former  silence  and  of  the  morning's  message,  this 
note  was  precisely  such  as  a  sensitively  self- 
respecting  young  woman  might  have  written 
when  compelled  by  his  persistence  to  write  to  him 
at  all. 

It  was  a  very  bad  quarter  of  an  hour  with  him, 
416 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

during  which  he  read  the  missive  a  dozen  times, 
unable  to  make  out  what  it  meant. 

But  Baillie  Pegram  was  not  a  man  to  despair 
until  he  must,  or  to  rest  under  a  painful  uncer- 
tainty. It  was  his  habit  of  mind  to  meet  dangers 
and  difficulties  half-way,  and  question  them  insist- 
ently concerning  their  extent.  He  called  Sam, 
therefore,  and  bade  him  bring  the  easy-going 
pacer  which  he  had  begun  to  ride  for  exercise, 
and  mounting  the  animal  he  set  off  at  a  gentle 
gait  toward  The  Forest. 

He  appeared  there  half  an  hour  before  the  four 
o'clock  dinner  was  announced,  and  his  welcome 
by  his  hostesses,  Miss  Blair  and  her  sister,  was  all 
the  warmer  for  the  reason  that  his  arrival  indi- 
cated, more  surely  than  any  message  from  War- 
lock could  have  done,  the  extent  of  his  convales- 
cence. 

Perhaps  he  was  welcome  also  on  another 
account.  For  the  Misses  Blair  were  deeply  con- 
cerned about  Agatha,  and  they  hoped  that  he 
might  persuade  her,  as  they  had  failed  to  do,  to 
give  up  her  plan  of  going  to  Richmond  and  seek- 
ing service  as  a  hospital  nurse  or  in  some  other 
capacity  in  which  a  woman  might  employ  herself. 

417 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

They  were  deeply  concerned  as  to  the  matter  of 
nursing  for  the  reason  that  it  was  deemed  highly 
improper  in  Virginia  for  any  but  married  women 
to  nurse  in  the  military  hospitals,  where  the  pa- 
tients, of  course,  were  men. 

Agatha  had  told  them  as  little  as  possible  of 
her  affairs.  She  had  said  nothing  whatever  of 
her  quarrel  with  her  aunts,  only  telling  them  that 
she  had  left  The  Oaks  finally,  and  asking  them 
to  send  thither  for  such  personal  belongings  as 
she  had  there,  so  that  she  might  remain  overnight 
at  The  Forest,  and  go  to  Richmond  on  the 
morrow.  The  younger  Miss  Blair  had  volun- 
teered to  go  in  person  on  this  errand,  and  from 
her  the  ladies  at  The  Oaks  had  first  learned  that 
Agatha  had  finally  quitted  the  place  in  her  resent- 
ment. They  were  greatly  distressed,  and  immedi- 
ately ordered  their  carriage  and  drove  to  The 
Forest,  where  Baillie  Pegram  found  them  on  his 
arrival. 

Their  pleadings  with  Agatha  had  been  earnest, 
insistent,  and  wholly  fruitless.  She  had  mani- 
fested no  anger,  and  they  had  discovered  no 
resentment  in  her  voice  as  she  replied  to  them. 
She  had  made  no  complaints  and  uttered  no 
418 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

reproaches.  To  all  their  pleadings  she  had 
answered,  simply : 

"  I  have  quite  decided  upon  my  course.  I  shall 
not  change  my  plans." 

The  good  dames  were  in  such  despair  that  they 
even  welcomed  Baillie's  coming. 

"  We  have  done  everything,  said  everything," 
they  hastily  explained  to  him ;  "  why,  we  have 
almost  apologised  to  the  child,  and  all  to  no  pur- 
pose. Perhaps  you  can  have  some  influence,  Cap- 
tain Pegram.  Will  you  not  speak  to  her  ?  " 

"  I  shall  speak  to  her,  of  course,"  was  his  reply. 
"  I  am  here  indeed  for  that  express  purpose.  But 
I  shall  certainly  not  try  to  dissuade  her  from  any 
course  that  she  may  desire  to  pursue.  That  would 
be  an  impertinence  of  which  I  am  incapable." 

The  Oaks  ladies  flushed  as  he  spoke  the  word 
"  impertinence,"  remembering  their  own  recent 
use  of  the  term  in  connection  with  his  conduct. 
Perhaps  Agatha  had  told  him  of  that  in  her  letter, 
they  thought.  If  so  it  would  be  most  embarrass- 
ing for  them  to  dine  in  his  company  and  hers. 
So,  pleading  their  great  agitation  of  mind  as  their 
excuse,  they  returned  at  once  to  The  Oaks,  leaving 

419 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Baillie  and  Agatha  as  the  only  guests  of  the 
Misses  Blair  at  dinner. 

When  left  alone  with  the  young  woman  after 
dinner,  the  master  of  Warlock  opened  the  con- 
versation as  promptly  as  it  was  his  custom  to 
open  fire  when  the  proper  moment  had  come. 

"  Agatha,"  he  began,  as  the  two  stood  in  the 
piazza  in  the  glow  of  the  early  setting  sun  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  blood-red  Virginia  creepers 
that  embowered  the  place,  "  Agatha,  do  you  re- 
member the  words  I  spoke  to  you  on  the  picket- 
line  at  Fairfax  Court-house  ?  "  Then  without 
waiting  for  her  reply,  he  continued :  "  I  have 
come  to  you  now  to  say  those  words  over  again, 
at  a  more  fitting  time  and  in  a  more  appropriate 
place.  I  love  you.  I  have  loved  you  ever  since 
those  days  in  Richmond,  those  precious  days  when 
I  first  began  to  know  you  for  what  you  are.  I 
loved  you  all  through  that  cruel  time  when,  in 
obedience  to  what  you  believed  was  your  duty, 
you  decreed  that  there  should  be  '  war  between 
me  and  thee.'  And  now  after  all  that  you  have 
done  and  dared  for  me,  my  love  for  a  nature 
so  pure,  so  noble,  so  heroic,  passes  understanding. 

420 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

I  have  a  right  to  tell  you  this  now.  Tell  me  in 
return,  if  it  displeases  you?" 

With  that  absolute  truthfulness  which  was  the 
basis  of  her  nature,  Agatha  replied  as  frankly 
as  he  had  spoken. 

"  It  pleases  me,"  she  said.  "  I  had  not  ex- 
pected this.  I  thought  I  had  repulsed  you  so 
rudely  that  —  oh!  Baillie,  you  will  never  know." 

In  a  torrent  of  tears  that  were  a  more  welcome 
answer  than  any  words  could  have  been,  she 
buried  her  face  in  her  hands. 

Half  an  hour  later  these  two  sat  by  a  crackling 
fire,  arranging  practical  affairs. 

"  You  do  not  wish  to  go  back  to  The  Oaks, 
then,  even  for  a  few  weeks,  and  to  save  appear- 
ances? " 

"  No,  Baillie,  I  cannot.  I  should  have  to  act 
a  lie  every  hour  of  my  stay  there.  I  should  be 
obliged  to  pretend  friendship  for  my  aunts  when 
I  feel  nothing  of  the  kind.  They  have  insulted 
the  memory  of  my  grandfather,  and  they  have 
spoken  of  you  in  a  way  that  never  so  long  as 
I  live  will  I  let  any  human  being  speak  of  you 
without  resenting  it.  I  do  not  care  to  '  save  ap- 
pearances,' as  you  put  it.  Appearances  may  look 

421 


The    Master     of    Warlock 

out  for  themselves.  '  Saving  appearances '  is 
only  a  sneaking  way  of  lying.  No.  I  will  go  to 
some  friends  in  Richmond,  if  they  will  let 
me  —  " 

"  Why  not  go  to  Warlock?  "  he  asked. 

"  Why,  that  would  outrage  the  proprieties 
beyond  forgiveness  now  that  we  —  well,  under 
the  circumstances." 

So  Mistress  Agatha  did  "  care  for  appear- 
ances "  and  conventions  after  all.  But  Baillie 
did  not  think  of  that. 

"  Why  not  go  there  as  the  mistress  of  Warlock 
—  as  my  wife?"  he  asked.  "Why  should  we 
not  be  married  to-morrow  at  Christ-Church-in- 
the- Woods?  I  am  a  soldier.  I  shall  be  strong 
enough  to  return  to  duty  presently.  When  I  do 
so  I  shall  want  to  feei  that  you  are  safe  at  War- 
lock, that  you  are  mine,  my  wife  to  cherish  while 
I  live.  Say  that  it  shall  be  so,  Agatha!  Let  me 
send  word  to  Mr.  Berkeley,  the  rector,  to-night, 
that  we  shall  be  at  the  church  at  noon  to- 
morrow !  " 

The  girl  thought  for  a  moment,  and  then  said : 

"  Yes,  that  will  be  best.  For  then,  if  you  fall 
ill  or  are  wounded  again,  I  shall  have  a  right  to 
422 


"  '  At  Christ-church-in-the-woods  '  ' ' 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

go  to  you  and  care  for  you.  Let  it  be  so.  Now 
you  must  not  ride  to  Warlock  on  horseback 
to-night.  It  is  very  cool,  and  you  have  already 
overtaxed  your  strength.  I  shall  ask  Miss  Blair 
to  send  you  over  in  her  carriage." 

When  he  had  gone  Agatha  announced  the 
news  to  her  hostesses  and  straightway  set  about 
writing  a  score  of  little  notes  to  be  despatched 
by  negro  messengers  early  in  the  morning,  to 
her  friends  in  the  neighbourhood.  To  her  aunts 
she  wrote  simply,  and  without  formal  address  of 
any  kind,  the  bare  statement: 

"  Captain  Baillie  Pegram  and  I  are  to  be  mar- 
ried to-morrow,  Thursday,  at  noon,  at  Christ- 
Church-in-the- Woods." 

This  note  she  sent  before  going  to  bed.  When 
it  was  received  at  The  Oaks,  a  conversation  en- 
sued which  was  largely  ejaculatory: 

"How  shocking!" 

"  Yes,  and  how  scandalous !  " 

"  What  will  people  say !  " 

"The  girl  must  be  bewitched!" 

"And  yet  it  is  better  than  nursing  soldiers, 
and  she  an  unmarried  woman ! " 

"  Perhaps.    At  any  rate  it  is  clear  that  we  can 

423 


The      Master    of    Warlock 

exercise  no  restraint  over  the  poor,  headstrong 
child." 

"  No,  Captain  Pegram  has  completely  under- 
mined our  influence.  Of  course  we  cannot  lend 
our  countenance  to  the  affair  by  attending !  " 

"  I  think  we  must.  Otherwise  people  will  talk. 
They  might  even  call  it  a  runaway  match." 

"That  would  be  too  dreadful!" 

"  Yes.  I  think  we  must  put  the  best  face  we 
can  on  the  affair  by  attending.  In  these  war- 
times everything  is  topsyturvy.  Ah,  me!  What 
a  pity  we  couldn't  have  had  the  child's  bring- 
ing-up  to  ourselves !  " 

"  Yes,  we  should  have  made  a  very  different 
woman  of  her.  Anyhow,  with  this  marriage  all 
our  responsibility  for  her  will  be  at  an  end.  And 
after  all,  perhaps  it  is  as  well  to  have  it  so,  for 
if  she  had  remained  single  there  is  no  knowing 
at  what  moment  she  would  have  done  something 
else  as  scandalous  as  her  going  North  to  nurse 
Mr.  Pegram  was." 

And  so  they  cackled  for  half  the  night. 


424 


XXXIV 

THE  END  AND   AFTER 

A  FEW  weeks  later  came  the  news  that  a 
campaign  was  on  and  battle  impending. 
Burnside  had  replaced  McClellan  in  com- 
mand of  the  Federal  armies  in  Virginia.    He  had 
at  once  begun  a  campaign  against   Richmond, 
moving  by  way  of  Fredericksburg.     There  Lee 
met  him,  posting  the  Southern  veterans  on  the 
circling  hills  behind  the  town  and  awaiting  his 
adversary's  assault. 

Baillie  Pegram  had  resumed  command  of  his 
battery  now,  but  no  longer  with  the  light  guns 
that  he  had  used  while  galloping  with  Stuart. 
A  captured  Federal  battery  of  six  twelve-pounder 
Napoleons  had  been  assigned  to  him,  and  with 
these  he  took  position  on  the  crest  of  Marye's 
Heights,  where  there  was  presently  to  occur  one 
of  the  most  heroic  battles  of  all  the  war. 

It  was  nearly  mid-December  when  Burnside 

425 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

crossed  the  river  and  moved  to  assault  Lee.  His 
army,  though  greater  than  Lee's,  was  not  quite  so 
great  in  numbers  as  it  had  been  when  McClellan 
had  commanded  it  near  Richmond's  gates;  but 
it  was  greatly  more  formidable  in  all  other  re- 
spects. The  men  who  composed  it  were  war- 
seasoned  veterans  now,  and  its  officers  had  fully 
learned  their  trade  of  command.  Moreover  the 
army  had  successfully  held  its  own  against  Lee 
at  Sharpsburg,  and  the  confidence  inspired  by 
that  event  was  an  important  element  of  strength. 
But  in  Burnside  the  Federal  administration  had 
again  failed  to  find  a  leader  capable  of  so  employ- 
ing the  North's  stupendous  resources  of  men, 
money,  and  material  as  to  crush  the  splendid 
resistance  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

So  Burnside  failed,  as  McDowell,  and  McClel- 
lan, and  Pope  had  failed  before,  and  as  Hooker, 
who  succeeded  him  in  command,  failed  even 
more  conspicuously,  when,  in  the  following 
spring,  he  made  the  campaign  of  Chancellorsville. 

After  Chancellorsville  Lee  crossed  the  Potomac 
again.    Then  came  Gettysburg,  which  proved  to 
be  the  turning-point  in  the  war,  so  far  as  the 
armies  of  Virginia  were  concerned. 
426 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

For  before  the  next  campaign  opened  —  the 
campaign  of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  and 
Cold  Harbour  —  the  North  had  recognised  in 
Grant  a  leader  who  knew  what  use  to  make  of  the 
means  at  his  command,  and,  more  important  still, 
a  leader  who  clearly  saw  that  the  strength  of  the 
Confederacy  lay,  not  in  the  possession  of  cities 
or  the  holding  of  strategic  positions,  but  in  the 
superb  fighting  force  of  Lee's  army.  Grant,  in 
supreme  command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Union, 
directed  the  work  of  all  of  them  to  the  one  task  of 
crushing  Lee,  and  in  the  end  he  accomplished  it. 
When  that  was  done,  this  most  stupendous  war  in 
modern  history  was  over. 

In  all  these  epoch-making  events  the  master  of 
Warlock  did  his  part,  with  a  devotion  that 
wrought  a  colonel's  stars  upon  his  collar  and 
added  honour  to  the  name  he  bore.  During  the 
long  winter  of  1863-64,  while  the  mud-bound 
armies  lay  helplessly  idle  in  winter  quarters, 
Baillie  had  Agatha  with  him  in  his  log  hut  near 
Orange  Court-house,  and  before  the  campaign 
opened  at  the  Wilderness  in  the  spring,  an  heir 
to  Warlock  was  born  in  camp,  —  a  child  ver- 
itably "  cradled  in  a  revolution." 

427 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

Agatha  was  near  her  husband,  too,  during  the 
long  siege  of  Petersburg,  though  she  could  not 
be  actually  with  him;  for  his  place  was  on  the 
lines,  where  the  "  scream  of  shot,  and  burst  of 
shell,  and  bellowing  of  the  mortars  "  were  cease- 
less by  night  and  by  day,  for  the  space  of  eight 
months,  before  the  end  came.  But  she  was  always 
near  at  hand,  as  one  of  that  heroic  band  of 
women  who  stayed  and  starved  in  the  beleaguered 
city,  heedless  of  the  storm  of  huge  shells  that 
daily  wrecked  buildings  there  and  tore  cavernous 
trenches  in  the  streets.  She  remained  there  to 
the  end  as  the  others  did,  in  order  that  they  might 
minister  in  loving,  life-saving  ways  to  the 
wounded,  who  were  daily  brought  in  from  the 
lines  on  ever-busy  litters. 

When  at  last  the  attenuated  lines  that  had  so 
long  and  so  heroically  held  their  ground  against 
an  ever-increasing  disparity  of  numbers,  were 
broken,  and  Lee  ordered  the  instant  evacuation 
of  the  city,  Agatha  made  her  way  on  foot  to 
Warlock,  and  there,  with  her  babe,  awaited  the 
return  of  the  man  she  loved,  and  whose  voice 
she  fancied  she  could  hear  in  the  receding  echoes 
of  the  cannon. 
428 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

He  came  at  last,  —  ten  days  later,  —  and 
Agatha  greeted  him  with  loving  looks  and  words 
that  cheered  him  in  that  despondency  that  at 
first  made  every  returning  Confederate  lament 
that  he  had  not  been  permitted  to  share  the  fate 
of  those  who  had  fallen  facing  the  foe. 

Over  the  mantel  in  that  family  room  which  in 
Virginia  was  always  called  "  the  chamber," 
Agatha  hung  up  the  artillery  sword,  the  pistols, 
the  colonel's  sash,  and  the  Mexican  spurs  that  the 
master  of  Warlock  had  worn  in  his  campaigning. 

"  Those  are  for  the  little  boy  to  see  daily  as 
he  grows  up,  so  that  he  may  know  what  manner 
of  man  his  mother  wishes  him  to  become  —  what 
manner  of  man  his  mother  loves  and  reveres." 

Then  she  brought  two  other  mementos  and 
hung  them  also  on  the  wall.  One  was  the  ser- 
geant-major's jacket  on  which  she  had  stitched  the 
chevrons  on  the  day  before  Manassas. 

"  So  you  found  the  old  jacket,  did  you  ?  "  asked 
Baillie.  "  I  kept  it  as  a  reminder  of  you."  • 

"  Yes  —  I  know.  I  found  it  in  the  little  closet 
where  you  had  hung  it.  I  should  have  left  it 
there  always,  just  as  your  hands  had  placed  it, 
if  —  if  you  had  not  come  back  to  Warlock  again." 

429 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

She  was  weeping  now,  but  her  face  was  joyous 
in  spite  of  the  tears.  For  had  he  not  come  back 
to  her,  strong  and  well  and  still  young?  And 
should  not  they  two  find  ways  in  which  to  meet 
their  present  poverty  with  stout  hearts  and  heads 
erect  ? 

"  We  must  '  look  up,'  Baillie,  '  and  not  down 
—  forward  and  not  backward.'  We  have  each 
other  left  —  " 

"  And  the  boy  —  our  boy !  "  he  interrupted. 
"  Yes,  we  have  enough  to  live  for  —  enough  to 
enrich  our  lives  to  the  end.  And  thanks  to  you 
I  have  courage  left  both  to  do  and  to  endure." 

"  Courage  ?  Of  course.  You  could  never  lose 
that  and  still  live.  It  is  as  vital  a  part  of  you 
as  your  head  itself  is." 

Then  she  brought  the  other  memento  and 
fastened  it  into  its  place.  It  was  a  faded  red 
feather. 

"  I  have  carried  that  on  my  person,"  she  said, 
"ever  since  that  day  at  Fairfax  Court-house 
when  you  first  told  me  that  you  loved  me." 

A  few  months  later  Marshall  Pollard  came. 
He  hobbled  upon  a  cork  leg  which  he  had  not 

430 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

yet  learned  to  use  with  ease,  but  the  old  smile 
was  on  his  face,  the  old  cheer  in  his  voice. 

"  Agatha,"  he  said,  "  I  should  like  to  occupy 
my  old  quarters  here  during  my  stay,  if  I  may. 
You  see,  Baillie,  it  is  as  I  told  you  long  years 
ago  —  I  must  ask  leave  of  my  lady  now.  But 
I  don't  mind,  as  my  lady  happens  to  be  Agatha 
instead  of  some  other." 

"  And  your  other  prediction  is  fulfilled,  too," 
answered  the  master  of  Warlock,  "  the  prediction 
that  you  made  out  there  by  the  plantation  gate. 
The  old  life  of  Virginia  is  completely  gone,  the 
old  conditions  have  been  utterly  swept  away.  We 
can  never  re-create  them.  We  can  never  bring 
the  old  life  back,  and  perhaps  it  is  better  so.  We 
Virginians  had  for  generations  lived  in  the  past. 
Our  manner  of  life  and  all  our  conceptions  of 
living  were  those  of  a  century  ago.  We  had  not 
kept  step  with  progress.  We  have  been  rudely 
shaken  out  of  the  lethargic  ease  that  was  so  de- 
lightful and  perhaps  so  bad  for  us.  We  are  free 
now  to  create  a  new  life  in  tune  with  that  of  the 
modern  world. 

"  And  we  shall  do  that  right  manfully.  We 
shall  develop  the  resources  of  our  region,  and  the 

431 


The     Master     of   Warlock 

South  will  grow  more  prosperous  than  it  ever 
was  before.  Better  still,  our  children  will  be 
educated  in  the  gospel  of  work,  and  learn  the 
lesson  that  was  never  taught  to  you  and  me  till 
war  came  to  teach  us,  that  it  is  in  strenuous 
endeavour,  and  not  in  paralysing  ease,  that  a  man 
finds  the  greatest  happiness  in  life." 

"  Tell  me  of  your  plans,  Baillie." 

"  They  are  not  mine.  They  are  Agatha's. 
We  have  arranged  to  convert  this  plantation,  and 
The  Oaks,  and  all  the  land  round  about  —  for 
the  company  we  have  formed  has  bought  every 
acre  that  could  be  had  —  into  a  nest  of  coal 
mines.  The  deposit  is  a  rich  one,  you  know,  and 
I  have  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  practical  men 
with  abundant  capital  to  join  me  in  the  enter- 
prise. We  are  already  building  a  branch  rail- 
road to  carry  our  product.  But  there  is  to  be  no 
shaft  sunk  within  half  a  mile  of  Warlock  House, 
so  that  I  shall  be  '  master  of  Warlock  '  still.  Tell 
us  now  of  your  own  affairs,  Marshall." 

"  There  is  not  much  to  tell.  Thanks  to 
Agatha's  wonderful  economy  in  spending,  I  still 
have  investments  at  the  North  which  yield  me  a 
sufficient  income  for  my  small  needs.  I  have 

432 


The     Master    of    Warlock 

divided  my  plantation  into  little  farms,  and  have 
let  them  to  the  best  of  the  negroes  and  to  some 
white  farmers.  I  am  to  get  my  rentals  in  the 
shape  of  a  share  of  the  crops.  This  sets  me  free 
to  do  the  work  that  best  pleases  me.  You  know 
I  have  been  writing  in  a  small  way  with  some 
success  ever  since  I  grew  up.  I  shall  write  some 
books  now.  I  think  I  have  some  messages  to 
deliver  that  some  at  least  of  my  fellow  men  may 
be  the  better  or  the  happier  for  hearing." 
"  But  you  will  want  to  marry  some  day." 
"  No.  My  '  some  day  '  died  years  ago." 


THE    END. 


433 


The  Master  of  Warlock 

By  GEORGE  GARY  EGGLESTON,  Author  of  "Dor- 
othy South,"  "A  Carolina  Cavalier."  Six  Illustrations 
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Dorothy  South 

A  STORY  OF  VIRGINIA  JUST  BEFORE  THE  WAR 

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